Eye of the Dragon
by FFcrazy15
Summary: A new threat to China has been unleashed in the form of an old friend of Shifu, who wants the Dragon Warrior and the Five to join his army, specifically Po and Tigress.
1. Chapter 1

Eye of the Dragon

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: I am a martial artist myself, but I am in Karate, not Kung Fu, so I might end up using Japanese terms because I don't know enough Chinese to translate. Please forgive me!

Now, on with the story!

Finding _Inner Peace_ in the Valley of Peace is, as one might guess from its name, not exactly difficult for a Kung Fu master who has already mastered that technique. In the tranquil mountains that surround the Jade Palace, meditation is soothing, relaxing, and-

"OH YEAH!"

Tigress rolled her eyes as she strode through the trees. Well. It had been a nice thought.

"So we're going to meditate and-" Po rambled on behind her.

"Shut up." Tigress stepped over a root that was poking out of the ground. A few seconds later, she heard the expected BAMB! As Po hit the ground, obviously having tripped over the root.

"Little help?" the panda said, his voice a few pitches higher than normal.

Tigress sighed and turned around, offering a hand to help him up. She gave him a slightly bemused smile and said, "Come on, _Dragon Warrior_, get up."

"Hey, hey, easy on the teasing," Po said, grabbing the hand.

She yanked him up and said, "Just a little farther. Master Shifu will meet us there."

It was a bit more than 'just a little,' at least in Po's perspective. He was panting by the time they reached the end of the path, which had been worn from years of walking. "How- long- until-"

"We're here," Tigress said from ahead of him. She took a few steps farther, brushing aside some leaves to reveal a small pool, beside which Shifu was meditating on Oogway's staff. She walked forward, bowing to her master's back.

A few minutes passed, and neither the tiger nor her master moved.

Po stood up and took his hands off of his knees. "Uh…Master Shifu?"

The red panda remained seated atop the staff, not even moving-

Suddenly, Shifu whirled around, jumping off of the staff and throwing it at Tigress, who caught it, not even the slightest bit fazed by the attack.

The red panda bowed to his two students. "Tigress. Panda. You have come."

"Eh…Yeah. You told us to," Po said. "So, are we gonna, y'know, do that cool stuff where you become 'one with the universe' or- wait, you aren't going to make us sit in a cave for fifty years, right?"

"No, Panda. I have not summoned you here to meditate, as you were told." The head master wearily accepted the staff back from Tigress. "There is a new threat to China once again."

"Aw, seriously?" Po said. "Come on, we just got back!"

"I know. And for that I am sorry."

"You only asked for us," Tigress noted in her usual factual matter. Then, out of respectful habit, "Master."

"I will tell the other four shortly, but I wished for you to hear the message first." Shifu pulled a scroll from inside his robes and opened it. "'To my old friend. Deliver the Dragon Warrior and the kitty, as well as the other four, to me at Devil's Pass by the time of the half moon. You have one week.'" He closed the letter as well as his eyes. He steadied himself for a moment, before he opened them again and said, "As you can see, it asks for you two specifically."

"Kitty. Charming," Tigress said, examining her claws in the way that made you want to take a few steps back.

Shifu's eyes flashed. "This is no laughing matter, Tigress! It appears that an old friend of mine, the banished Master Sung wants to recruit you."

"Recruit? You mean like, you know, join some sort of army?" Po said.

"Yes, exactly." Shifu took the staff and twirled it in his long fingers.

"Why us?" Po said.

"You are the Dragon Warrior, that much is obvious. And Tigress is by far my strongest student. The two of you, along with the other four, would be an immeasurably valuable addition to his army, which is said to be at least twenty-thousand strong."

"So…what do we do?" He looked over at Tigress. "I mean we can't just…hand ourselves over, right?"

"Unfortunately, I see no other alternative but to meet Master Sung at the Devil's Pass and attempt to figure it out from that point forward." The red panda took a few steps past his two students and said, "I will inform the others. You two should pack your bags."

"Ahhh, again?"

"Lesson one of living a master's life," Tigress said, following Shifu. "Don't bother unpacking."

**A/N: Short chapter, I know! So sorry!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

**Palace Kitchen, Later that same night**

"Good dinner, Po," Crane said, dropping his bowl into the washtub by his talons. "Just like always."

"Who's washing?" Monkey said, doing the same (albeit with his hands).

Everyone looked expectantly at Tigress, whose eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Come on, Tigress, it's your turn," Viper said, sighing.

Tigress scowled. "Alright, alright."

She started on the dishes as everyone else left. She put her hands in the hot, soapy water, and closed her eyes for a moment as the heat wore out the cramps from a hard day of training.

Suddenly, she heard a clinking beside her, and she opened her eyes, surprised. "Po. What are you doing here?"

"Helping wash the dishes," he said. "I can leave if you don't want-" he hurriedly added.

"No. You can stay." There was a long pause. Finally, Tigress said, "The soup was good. Again."

"Thanks." After another long pause, he said, "We're really bad at making conversation, huh."

She rolled her eyes. "Why are you helping me, anyway?"

"Because it's gonna take you for_ever_," he said, emphasizing the ever.

"So?"

"Hey, if you want me to go…"

"Stay. I'd appreciate the help."

She was stoic and seemingly emotionless, as always. Lofty, almost; like a goddess that was unbothered by the troubles of this world. Po knew differently, though. The tiger master had a lot of emotions hidden under that hard-core exterior; whether she chose to share them or not was never a sure thing.

"Wha'cha thinking?" he said, after a while.

"That Oogway was right," she said, stating it as simply as a textbook fact, though it made absolutely no sense to him.

"What?"

She was silent for a moment, then, suddenly, she slammed the bowl she was holding down, making Po jump slightly. "I was a fool," she said in a low voice. "I was a vain, stupid, cruel fool that couldn't take a smack in the face without hitting back."

"Uh… okay, I'm totally lost here," Po said, his traditionally confused look on his face.

"I was the worst bully I could have been. I treated you like a- a training dummy, just because I was jealous." She clenched her fist, and the bowl shattered. The toughened skin of her paw was sliced just slightly, though it was enough to be squeezed out by the tension in her fist and stain her orange fur red. "You were the right choice all along. The Dragon Warrior."

"Is that what you're mad about?" When she didn't answer, he said, "Oh, come on. It's not like I wanted this."

"I know. And I- I'm-" she clenched her fist again. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Po stared. "Uh…okay."

"Okay? Okay? I just apologized and all you can say is 'okay?'" She glared at him.

"No- I- look, forget it, okay? You don't have to apologize." He put the bowl he was holding away and said, "So what does this have to do with Oogway?"

"He chose you. And after what just happened with Shen, its starting to make sense. He was right, you fell out of the sky for a reason."

"Oh, heh…" he laughed. "Okay, that was an accident."

She fixed him with a fiery gaze, her orange eyes narrowing. "What are you talking about?"

"I was trying to get into the arena because I was too slow and the noodle cart-"

"What?"

"Dad was making me sell noodles at the palace because of the crowds, and I couldn't get the cart up the steps. By the time I got to the top, the doors were closed."

"So…what this have to do with the whole 'falling from the sky' thing?" she said, her natural curiosity overriding her composure.

"Uh…I wanted to see you guys, you know, do your stuff. And I tried everything."

"Everything?" Tigress said doubtfully.

"Everything. The falling from the sky bit…okay, I, well…"

"What?" she said impatiently.

"I tied a bunch of fireworks to a chair and lit them on fire, okay?" His face went a brilliant shade of red with embarrassment, and Tigress started to laugh.

"You- you-"

"Yeah. So?"

"You were that desperate?" she said, incredulous. "Risk-your-life desperate?"

"Yeah. And since when do you laugh?"

"It happens every now and then." She smiled, and put the last bowl on the shelf. "Thanks for helping."

"No problem."

"You should get some sleep," Tigress said, regaining her usual cool manner. "We leave tomorrow for the Devil's Pass."

"I still can't believe we haven't been home for two days and we've got to get on the road again," the panda said.

"Believe it, because once dawn breaks, Shifu's going to have us on the road." She walked out of the kitchen, her tail swishing slightly. Po watched her go, then turned, closed the cabinet door, and followed her.

Viper watched as the light in the next room flickered to life, shining through the papyrus walls, and she knew that Tigress was back. She slithered out into the hall and around the corner into her friend's room.

The tiger master heard her come in, though she didn't turn around from where she was tucking a few things into a small back. "Tigress?"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

The snake slithered up to her, curling around the bed's post and slithering onto the cloth-covered wood where Tigress usually slept. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"We'll be meeting Master Sung," Viper said cautiously. "You know, face to face."

Tigress didn't respond, though she refused to look at her friend.

"Does Master Shifu-"

"Shifu knows," Tigress interrupted, still looking away. "It's a necessary sacrifice."

Viper winced in sympathy for her friend. "I'm so sorry-"

"Get out." Tigress' voice was harsh and brittle, like a bamboo stick left out in the sun.

Viper stopped, stunned. Her friend's face was turned away from hers, and she couldn't see her face. "Tigress?"

"Get. Out."

Viper sat there for a moment, before slithering down the post and across the floor. As she left, she glanced back and saw that Tigress had put both paws onto the bed, bracing herself, as if she didn't have the strength to stand.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

** A/N: For people who are wondering, yes, this will be a PoxTi story, but I intend to not over-romanticize it. It's not going to be really sappy or really smutty, roger?**

** Also, I got my information on Chinese New Year from http:/www. and . .**

**Next Morning, Dawn**

As the morning sun burst across the Valley of Peace, the resonations of the Jade Palace's gong rang out.

The noise startled Po from his sleep. Groaning, he rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a loud THUMP.

He grabbed his bag and scrambled out the door, where everyone else was already waiting. "Heh, uh, sorry," he offered. Tigress rolled her eyes and Viper flicked her tongue out in amusement, but other than that no one commented on the fact that he was always the last one out of the rooms.

"Everyone has their bags, so we should be going," Shifu said. "It's about seven days' _walk_ to the Devil's Pass." He glanced at Tigress with the word 'walk.' She ducked her head slightly, but couldn't help but smirk a little. The other five nearly broke out laughing when they saw, but they held their composure, no matter how entertaining it was. Tigress was not exactly the patient type.

As they walked out of the Jade Palace, Shifu subconsciously drifted back to the terror he'd felt at seeing the message.

It wasn't so much what it said than the name on the outside. Master Sung was another old friend-turned-enemy, which wasn't horrifying in itself. No, it was that he was writing in the first place. Shifu knew what Sung wanted.

_He isn't going to take it,_ he thought to himself, stamping on the scenario in his mind before it could begin to play itself out. _I won't let it happen._

**Same Day, around Noon, somewhere in the Valley of Peace**

Crane flew overhead, dipping down towards a small lake to catch his lunch. The fish wasn't exactly hard to catch, after all, fish weren't even smart enough to talk.

As he flew back towards where they were resting, he saw Shifu wave him down. He swooped down to the ground and said, "Yes, Master Shifu?"

"We are sparring. You and Viper shall go first."

The bird bobbed his head and glided over to where Viper was sunning in the grass. "Er…Viper?"

"Hm- oh, sorry," she said, uncoiling and straightening up. "Time to spar?"

"Yep."

Po stopped eating (call the presses!) and looked over at the two, who backed away from each other slightly.

"Ready," Shifu called. "And... Begin!"

The panda watched in awe as the two masters hesitated for a moment, before Viper jabbed forward in attack. Soon a full session was underway; the avian swooped in repeatedly from above, while the snake attacked and blocked from below. It was something of a wonder that they didn't kill each other, they were certainly doing a lot more than just a couple of gi taps.*

"Alright, rest," Shifu said, after about ten minutes. Both masters were panting slightly. They bowed to each other and took a few slithers/flaps back. "Next, let me see…Po and Tigress."

"Awesome!" Po said, jumping up…and then promptly falling back down. Tigress stood, helped him up, and walked over to where Crane and Viper had been standing before.

"Get ready," Shifu said.

Po put his hands up in fighting sense. Tigress did the same, though she wasn't looking at him.

"Begin."

Po, always over-eager, was the first to attack. Tigress blocked it and…that was it.

Po stared for a moment, before attacking again, this time with an overhead blow. The tiger master blocked again, this time returning with a punch. But she still wasn't looking at him.**

"Uh…Master Tigress?" Po said. She didn't respond. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, her eyes flashed, burning scarlet. "I'm fine!" she hissed, and lunged forward with a punch.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Po had her in an arm lock. Tigress stood there, stunned, before she realized what had happened.

"Uh- Tigress? Tigress, slap!"†

An instant before her arm was about to snap in half, Tigress slapped her leg, and Po let go. Resisting the urge to rub her arm, she glared at the panda.

The others and Shifu were all staring. Slowly, whispers began to arise from the rest of the furious five.

Realizing that she couldn't stay there any longer, she bowed stiffly to Po and turned, walking quickly away.

Running across the grass, she dropped onto all fours and ran until she found the same lake where Crane had been fishing. Without even bothering to undress, she jumped into it.

The cold water slapped her awake, returning her to her senses. What was wrong with her? She'd just lost a spar- to Po! And she'd lost terribly, too. She hadn't done that bad in a spar since, well, ever.

"Tigress!"

Suddenly, something wrapped around her neck. Blinking water from her eyes, she reached up and unwound Viper from her neck.

"What happened back there? You completely froze up-"

"I know!" Tigress snapped. "I- I freaked, okay?"

"You got put in an arm lock! By Po! He's too shocked to even say 'Did you see that?'" She fixed her friend with her hypnotic gaze. "Tigress, if you can't do this-"

"No!" she snarled. "I can handle it, alright? Just- just give me a few minutes."

With one last pitying look, Viper slithered off her friend, through the water, and onto the shore. With the sound of rustling leaves, she was gone.

Tigress growled, brushing her dripping fur out of her eyes. She was distracted, and distracted people ended up dead. And she didn't want to be dead. Growling again, she climbed out of the water and cringed. Going back was going to be painful.

She walked slowly back to where the others were. "What happened to you?" Monkey said, seeing how wet Tigress was.

"Sudden downpour," the master said, shooting the primate a glare that could've melted the polar ice caps. Everyone left it at that.

"Alright, well then, Monkey and Mantis. You're next." Shifu waved the two forward, and the two masters bowed and began to spar.

Tigress pointedly ignored the stares and looked straight ahead. She could feel heat rising to her cheeks, and silently thanked every god she knew for her orange fur.

She'd gotten her butt kicked. Bad. Letting a low, almost inaudible growl escape her throat, she vowed to focus and never, ever let it happen again.

**Páng Hai, That Night**

The small seaside village, appropriately named "Beside Sea" was well and thriving.

Tigress smiled and straightened her shawl as the walked into the town, each hidden under a rain hat and appearing to be simple travelers. Páng Hai was one of her favorite towns. She'd visited a number of times with Shifu and the other five; it was one of the first places she'd ever gone since Shifu had taken her from the Bau Go Orphanage. Reaching under the shawl, she lightly fingered the red silk vest that had come from this very village.

After reaching the small in where the five usually stayed, Viper said, "Please, Master, may we go now?"

Shifu's huge ears twitched, as well as his lips into a bemused smile, and said, "Go ahead. But be back by midnight."

"Yes, Master Shifu," all six of them said, and within seconds most of them had dispersed in their various directions.

"Come with me," Tigress said, grabbing Po's paw in hers and dragging him down one of the streets.

"Where are we-"

"There's someone you should meet," she said over her shoulder.

She pulled him around a corner and into an old pot shop.

"Wen!" she called.

There was a crash that sounded like- and probably was- two brass pots crashing together. "Tigress! Is that you?" An old duck waddled out from behind two giant brass vases. He looked slightly bedraggled and was wearing a pair of spectacles. "I haven't seen you in-"

"Four years," the master said, her face breaking into a grin. "How are you doing, how's business?"

"Oh, good, good," the duck said. "Much better since you and the rest of them stopped that insane peacock and got me my metal back a week ago. Thank goodness none of my precious pots were melted to make those horrid contraptions."

"Wen, I'd like you to meet Po," Tigress said. "Po, this is Wen. He's an old friend."

"It's an honor to meet you, Po," the duck said, bowing slightly. "It's nice to see that Tigress has finally gotten herself a courter."

"He's not a courter, Wen!" Tigress hissed. "He's a student of Shifu's. The _Dragon Warrior_."

"Hm, that's too bad," Wen said absently, straightening a bowl on one of the shelves. "Then again, you never were to talented at womanly charms."

Tigress face-pawed. "Thanks, you old quack."

"Or diplomacy," Wen added.

Tigress rolled her eyes, then said, "Why is the shop so empty? After what just happened, I thought you'd be swamped with customers and almost out of inventory."

"My goodness, girl," the duck said, looking over his spectacles in amazement. "Don't you know? They're all at the festival."

"There's a festival tonight?" Po said. "Whoa, what kind of food does it have?"

The duck sighed. "Don't you know? My, my, you have been training to hard, my girl. Tonight is the fifteenth day of New Year's, the Lantern Festival∆. Year of the Tiger, I believe."ˆ

"Really?" Tigress said, surprised.

"Yes, yes, I think so…you're twenty-four this year, correct?"

"If today's the last day of New Years, then yes, I suppose so."

"And you were born in the Year of the Tiger."

"Whoa. That's kind of creepy," Po said.

"As a matter of fact, I was about to go myself. You two should be on your way. It's a special night for couples like you."

"We're not a couple!" Tigress nearly shouted.

"Yes, yes. On your way now." He shooed them out of the shop.

"Crazy old coot," Tigress grumbled.

"So how do you know him, anyway?" asked Po.

"He used to work at the orphanage before Shifu took me in," Tigress said. "He moved here a few years after, and I usually visit him when we come to Páng Hai." She looked around at the deserted streets. "Which way to the festival?"

Po sniffed the air, then pointed. "That way."

"How do you know."

"Follow the smell of the moon cakes."

Tigress blinked, then sniffed the air. "You're right. I- I never would have thought of that."

"Come on," Po said, taking her paw and pulling her along.

Suddenly, they were in a huge street, full of people. It was lit by a hundred red lanterns, and the smell of moon cakes and tangerines filled the air. A thousand loud noises and bangs filled the air to scare off Nian˚, and a huge red dragon wound it's way through the crowds.

Tigress gaped at it. "Wow. This is…"

"Yeah. I love the New Year's festival."

Tigress just stared. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Seriously? You've never seen a New Year celebration?" He started searching through his pockets for something.

"No. I've been training every year when it happened; that's probably why I forgot." She stared in wonder at the celebrations for a moment, before she realized that the panda was nowhere in sight. "Po?" Obviously, no one answered, though she doubt she could have heard over the noise, anyway. "_Po_?" she tried again, louder this time.

"Here," he said, reappearing from the crowds and holding something in his hand. He put one into her paw.

"What is it?" she said, staring at the small white cake.

"A moon cake," he said, stuffing his in his mouth. "Ju ee id, I doe you ugry e'en ib you too har cor to ay a'ee'ing."

"What?"

He swallowed. "Just eat it, I know you're hungry even if you're too hard-core to say anything. Besides, they're really good."

Suddenly, a particularly large bang startled Tigress from her seat. "What's that?"

"Fireworks," Po said, polishing off the rest of his moon cake. "Looks like the show's about to start.

And indeed it was. As the tiny flares shot up into the sky, then exploded into colored flashes of light, Tigress' eyes went wide. She bit into her moon cake (it really was very good) and watched the show with growing amazement.

"So," Po said after a while, startling her from her thoughts. "What happened today? You completely spazzed when we were sparring. It's cool if you don't want to tell me," he added quickly.

Tigress didn't answer for a while, then let out a very small, almost inaudible sigh and sat down on a nearby crate. "A few weeks ago, right before we left to go after Shen, Shifu received a letter." She wasn't looking at him, but at the sky and the fireworks. "The letter was from my birth father."

"Your birth father?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "Okay, panda, I'm not sure if anyone's explained the whole biology thing to you, but a red panda can't sire a tiger. You know that, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he hurried to say. "So…Shifu adopted you?"

"Yes. Anyway, I had no clue my birth father was alive, I didn't even know who he was. But out of the blue a letter comes saying that he wants me back."

"Whoa," Po said. "Seriously? Like, 'come and live with me' back?"

Tigress nodded. "Yes. Obviously, Master refused. But I've been a little distracted ever since then. I held it together during the last mission, but today it was really getting to me."

"Yeah, no kidding." He was silent for a moment, then said, "So how are you doing now?"

"Fine, actually. This isn't half bad." She gave him a small smirk, her fangs showing slightly. Suddenly, a huge bout of fireworks exploded up ahead, and the blast nearly knocked the dust from the walls.

They stayed until almost midnight, the others joining them around eleven. When it was time to go, Tigress said, "I'll meet you all there," jumped to the nearest roof, and was gone. Crane flew away soon later, leaving Monkey, Viper, and Mantis to walk back with Po.

"Tigress is certainly a lot…warmer with you these days," Viper said, slithering on the ground alongside the panda.

"Yeah. I guess she doesn't hate my guts as much now. Oooh, moon cakes," he said, reaching to get some coins out of his pockets for the man at the stand. "Who wants one?"

After treating the rest of them to moon cakes with some of his money, Po wrapped two in paper. "For Crane and Tigress," he explained. He noticed Monkey, Viper and Mantis share a glance. "Is something up that you guys aren't telling me?"

"No," Monkey said, a little too quickly. Po watched him for a moment, then shrugged and kept on walking.

By the time they got back to the inn, Master Shifu was already waiting for them with Tigress and Crane.

"Alright, into your rooms, all of you. We're in the usual ones. Po, follow Monkey, Crane and Mantis."

"Gotcha."

Shifu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Girls, you know the way."

"Yes, master Shifu," they said in unison.

Po followed the other males inside and down a hallway to a room. There were some sleeping mats inside, and they each took one. Within moments of laying down, he found himself growing drowsy, and barely a minute after that he was asleep.

**A/N: These are explanations for the words and phrases that have symbols by them.**

*Gi Tap- This is a term in karate referring to the Japanese (yes, yes, I know) martial arts robe known as a gi. A gi tap is a light punch that does no harm, and is generally recommended during sparring unless you are wearing armor or are of a higher rank.

**Punching after Blocking, Looking in the Eye- These are two of the biggest rules in any form of martial arts: follow each block with a blow, and look your opponent in the eye so that you know what they're about to do.

†Slapping- This is how you tell your opponent, once he has gotten you into an arm lock, that you are in pain and that you surrender. Even if you don't feel pain, it might be a good idea to slap before they break your arm.

∆Lantern Festival- This is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, when lanterns are strung, fireworks lit, and a huge parade including a gigantic dragon his marched through the streets. In reference to Tigress and Po's ages, people's ages switched over on the _7__th_ day of New Years in ancient China, since individual birthdays weren't as important as the year's birthday.

˚Nian- This is an ancient Chinese monster that is said to have come out one night a year to terrorize the villages. Nian was supposed to be afraid of red and loud noises, thus the red lanterns and firecrackers.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. As a matter of fact, I don't own any of the series I enjoy writing fics of…

**Just Before Dawn, Next Day, the Guy's Room in the Inn**

"Po."

"Dad- no, the bean buns aren't good."

"_Po_."

"Seriously, they'll give you the worst stomach crams you've ever-"

"Po!"

Po mumbled something more about stomach aches, and opened his eyes. "Whoa!" He jerked back from the long, sharp-looking beak that was currently an inch from his face. "Come on, Crane, don't do that."

"Sorry, you weren't waking up." The aforementioned bird flapped his wings slightly.

Po groaned and rolled off the mat, before promptly knocking into monkey, who was still asleep.

"Whowha-!" shouted Monkey, startled from sleep. He jumped up instinctively and started beating the life out of Po.

"Monkey- ow!- Monkey, knock it off, it's- ow!- it's me- ow!-"

Mantis was awakened by the noise, and soon the insect was adding to the din that was quickly filling the room.

Suddenly, the door opened behind them all, revealing the irritated-looking Tigress and Viper.

"It's not even dawn and you four are already getting complaints," the snake said, flicking her tongue out in annoyance.

Everyone looked at Tigress, who had a vein pulsing in her temple. They all knew that one bad move could set her off.

Of _course_, the job immediately fell to Po, who said, "Who's complaining?"

The shouts that erupted from that room could be heard halfway across Páng Hai.

"WHO'S COMPLAINING? _WHO'S COMPLAINING?_ WHY DO YOU THINK WE'RE IN HERE?"

"Calm yourself, Tigress," Master Shifu said, appearing beside/below her in the doorframe. "Though you four should really know better than to start a fight before the sun's even had a chance to rise," he said, giving them an annoyed look.

"Yes, Master," the four men muttered.

Tigress shot them one last glare (this one being her usual 'If looks could kill, you'd all dead' variety), and turned to walk away. Viper gave them a withering look and did the same.

The four of them exchanged a look that clearly said one thing: _Last one out of the inn has to spar with Tigress today._

Needless to say, the innkeeper was treated to the sight of a monkey, a crane, a preying mantis, and a panda charging for the door.

**On the Road Again (or, technically, on the grass again)**

It was later in the day, and Po (who was trying hard to get his mind off the fact that he'd lost the mad dash for the door) was telling a very animated story to the other guys, who were all at the back of the line.

"-And then, Mrs. Pig came running in and slipped right on the spilled soup! He landed face-first in the old tofu-"

Monkey made a sound that was somewhere between a barf and a laugh.

"Yeah, and it had a lot of mold on it, too! Anyway, so dad ran up to him, and Mrs. Pig started screaming that the tofu was moving. EEEAAAH!" he said, imitating his neighbor's scream, causing the others to crack up.

At the loud noise, Tigress' head jerked back around, and she snarled. All the men suddenly quieted.

They walked in silence for a few moments, before the talk inevitably started back up, this time in half-whispers.

"Tigress is really ticked at you today, Po," Monkey said.

"Yeah. I'm glad I'm not you, I wouldn't want to be sparring her come noon," added Crane. Mantis nodded in agreement.

"Aw, come on, guys, she's just tired. We _were_ up pretty late last night."

Suddenly, there was dead. Silence.

"Wha- OH," said Po, his eyes going wide as noodle bowls. "No, I didn't mean it like- I just meant from the New Year's festival, you know that."

"Okaaayyy," Crane said, in that tone that meant he obviously didn't believe him.

"You've got to be kidding," Po said in disbelief. "Me and Tigress? Seriously? No way."

"If you say so," Monkey said.

"Oh, come on, guys," Po said. "She hates my guts!"

"No, I just seriously dislike them," Tigress said from the front, making them all shut up very fast as they realized that she, Viper and Shifu had all obviously been listening. "And if I hear one more word about last night, whoever said it is going to be missing a few teeth by the time I'm done with them."

And that was the end of that conversation.

"So," Viper said, as the boys started to talk about something else entirely (which was a good idea). "What _did_ happen last night?"

Tigress face-pawed. "He just meant that we were _all_ up late, Viper. Because of the festival?"

"Well, I suppose so…"

Tigress growled in the back of her throat. "Nothing. Happened. For Heaven's sake, Viper, you were in the room with me the whole time!"

"I'm trying to joke with you, Tigress. You shouldn't take everything so seriously." the snake said, attempting a smile. Then the smile grew slightly mischievous. "What about Po? Anything going on there?"

"You want the real answer?"

Viper bobbed her head.

"Nothing. Really, Viper, we're two different species, he's the Dragon Warrior, and he treats everything like a joke."

"Well, you know what they say about opposites…"

Tigress rolled her eyes. "I'm going to pound that panda to a pulp when we spar."

"Don't," Shifu said, causing a blush to rise to both girls' faces when the saw that, once again, he had been listening.

"Yes, Master," Tigress muttered. Then, "You should stop eavesdropping."

Shifu glanced at her. "How do you think I get my information?"

Tigress held her tongue. Apparently anything could and would be held against you in the court of Shifu.

**Noon, Same Day, in a Forest Somewhere in Eastern China.**

"Tigress, Po, to the front."

Po stood up, the other men muttering words of encouragement. Well, if encouragement meant 'I'll get out my acupuncture needles,' and 'I'll look for some straight sticks for splints,' anyway.

Tigress also stood up. Both the panda and the tiger walked a few meters away to a relatively clear are and raised their hands into fighting stance.

"You want easy, hard, or Death Wish?" Tigress muttered to the Panda, already knowing which one he would choose.

"Death Wish!"

She rolled her eyes. Would he ever learn?

"Ready?" Both masters nodded to Shifu's question without even looking up. "Begin."

There was just the slightest of pause while both Tigress and Po sized each other up and waited for an attack. Then, before Po could do anything, Tigress attacked-

Or…not. No, it was a feint; her hip jerked up as if she was about to kick, but her foot did not rise. It certainly tricked Po, however, and when he blocked the non-existent attack, Tigress made her move.

The other three and Shifu winced as Tigress punched, kicked, and threw the panda around like a beach ball. With a loud THUD! a minute later, Po hit the ground for the final time.

"How'd I do?" he asked, not moving from the ground.

"Better than last time you asked for the 'Death Wish,'" said Viper encouragingly.

"Po, you must not let up your guard or leave your chest open to attacks. Keep your hands lower and don't forget to look your opponent in the eye," Shifu instructed. "As for you, Tigress, you _never_ let your enemy get back up after a throw."

"Yes, Master," she said, bowing.

"Yes, Master Shifu," Po said, the words slightly muffled by the dirt.

Tigress watched as he got up, then bowed to him. She figured that this win today made up for the horrible defeat yesterday, and thought, _Now we're even._

Still, maybe she shouldn't have gone so hard on the panda. Then again, it wasn't as if the fool hadn't asked for it. Literally.

**Later that Night**

The moon was in a waxing gibbous that was much to full for Shifu's liking. They had barely five days to make it to the Devil's Pass, and he hadn't so much as an inkling on how they were going to avoid being forced to join Sung's army.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. He did have one idea…but no, no. It couldn't possibly work. And he certainly didn't want to be the one to inform them of it.

Suddenly, his ears flicked up. Was that-

No, of course it wasn't. It was just his mind playing tricks on him. He ought to get to sleep; especially if he was hearing things like-

There it was again. He stood up from where he'd been meditating. "Master?"

"Hello."

He whirled around. Oogway smiled at him.

"Master!" He immediately bowed as low as he possibly could while still watching Oogway, for fear that he would disappear if he glanced away. "But- but how?"

"At ease, Shifu," Oogway said, taking a few steps forward with a smile. "I am a _peaceful _apparition, after all."

Shifu relaxed. Master always had a way of making him feel like a small child. "Why are you here? _How_ are you here?"

"I have a message for you," the turtle said, who looked much younger than Shifu remembered. "It's about the Eyes of the Dragon."

Shifu felt a chill run through his blood. "How did you know I was thinking about that?"

"Oh, death has a way of doing that to you," Oogway said cheerfully. "Now, it's time you told them."

"But Master-!"

"Shifu," Oogway said gently. "I know. But it's the only way."

Shifu slumped slightly, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "Will they be safe?"

"I cannot guarantee that. But," the elder master said, reaching out to put a hand on his student's shoulder, "I can tell you that it's the only chance you have."

"That's uplifting."

Oogway chuckled. "It may not be what you wished to hear, but it is better to know sad truths than happy lies."

"It seems too early, though," Shifu said. "I don't think they can handle it yet."

"Perhaps. But it's best to dig the well before you are thirsty. Tell them soon or forever lose the chance." Oogway gave his student a smile and, with a hand raised in blessing, slowly faded away.

Shifu sighed. "Goodbye, Master." He slowly headed back to camp, leaving the small clearing. Moments later, the temporary silence was once more filled by the chirping of crickets, and the grass sprung back into place, as if no one had ever even been there.

**A/N: I got the quote on wells from .com/quotes/Chinese_Proverb/ .**


	5. Chapter 5 Ugly Truths and Citron Trees

Chapter 5: Ugly Truths and Citron Trees

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Did you see that I added a chapter title?

**Next Morning, Dawn (Day 3 of Journey)**

Tigress sat on the edge of the cliff by which their camp was set and watched the sun rise blood-red in the sky between the mountains. She heard a clinking behind her and turned, only to find a bowl of noodles being pushed into her paws.

"Po," she said, surprised. "You're up."

"Yeah. I thought you might be hungry, so I got some breakfast ready."

She nodded and drank some of the broth gratefully. "This is good," she said, swallowing. "Did you pack this?"

"It was still in my bag from when we went to fight Shen. It's still good, though," he added hurriedly.

"I can tell," she said, taking another drink. "So. Do you know the secret ingredient yet?"

"What?"

"You know. The secret ingredient in the soup." She gestured to the noodles before drinking some more.

"Oh." He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone?"

"Of course not," she vowed.

He looked around, like it was some big secret, then said, "Nothing."

"What?" she said, sure that she'd heard wrong.

"Yeah. Nothing. But my dad would totally kill me if he found out I told." He grinned and slurped from his own bowl.

She chuckled and drank some more. "I won't." Suddenly, she laughed out loud.

"What?"

"You've got a noodle on your lip, Master Shifu." She smirked.

"Oh." He slurped it up. "Better?"

She nodded and smirked even wider. "Much better."

Suddenly, they both heard giggles from behind, and they whirled around. Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper were all watching them with obvious glee.

Both Tigress and Po jumped up, Tigress running at the spies. Po followed, though he didn't start shouting at them like the tiger master did. No one seemed to notice that Shifu was watching, nodding grimly to himself and gripping Oogway's staff for support. "I hope you're right, Master," he murmured to the sky above.

**About 3:00 p.m., Eastern China**

"Look, Tigress," Viper said softly as they walked (so that none of the guys could hear). "It's clear to everyone that you and Po are an item."

"We aren't an item, Viper," Tigress growled.

"But it's so obvious?"

"You mean obvious like you and Crane?"

A blush bloomed on the apple-green snake's cheeks. "We aren't-"

"Please. Everyone knows about it. You're _always_ spar partners," Tigress said.

"You mean like-"

"Po and I are not going out and we never will be so you may as well-" suddenly, she stopped. "Master Shifu," she said urgently.

"I know," the red panda said grimly. "I heard them, too. Everyone!" he yelled, calling back. "On your guard! Circle up, back to back!"

Everyone hastened to obey. They stood there for several moments, waiting, before Po said, "So….Is something supposed to happen?"

"Quiet, panda," Shifu said. His ears twitched, and he clutched his staff more tightly. "Get ready," he ordered.

And that was when the boars came charging out of the forest, axes swinging.

Po barely got a glance at one before he was fighting it, defending himself. The boar wasn't as good a fighter as Tigress, but he was close. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his friends and his master fighting, but he never looked away from the boar.

A scream of pain split the air, and Viper was thrown off the boar she was fighting. Distracted by her cry, Crane's wing was twisted back by his opponent, and he fell as well. Those two boars teamed up to help another beat Monkey, and then the four of them took down Mantis. Within a few short minutes, Tigress, Po and Shifu were the only ones still fighting, and it was getting ugly.

"Po, behind you!" Tigress shouted, dodging an attack from one boar and kicking another. Po whirled around and furiously began to battle the boar, which meant that his first attacker was to his back. He swung his battle axe at Po, who barely managed to dodge it. Knocking out the second boar, the panda turned back around, just as the pig warrior raised his axe to strike again. There was no chance that he could dodge this one, and blocking it would mean losing an arm. He was screwed.

Suddenly, Tigress was at his side, knocking him out of the way and disarming the pig. Behind them, Shifu took on her opponents and easily knocked them out. Tigress clapped Porky on the temples, and the pig slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Panting, Po looked around for another attacker, but they were all unconscious. Spotting his fallen friends on the ground, he ran over, followed by Tigress and Master Shifu. "Guys, are you okay?"

"What does it look like?" Crane gasped out.

Tigress kneeled down beside them. "Po, go find some sticks."

"What?"  
>"Straight sticks, good for splinting. Now!"<p>

He nodded quickly and started looking for sticks.

Shifu tapped a few chakra points on Monkey and Mantis, and within moments they were fine again. Tigress tore some strips from her black pants and bandaged up Viper, who had a long slice down her side, and after Po got back with some sticks, she splinted Crane's wing, which was badly sprained. "I'll be fine in a few days," he said as he stood up, careful not to move the injured wing.

"So what do we do with the pigs?" Po said, glancing over at the unmoving boars.

"Interrogation," Shifu answered. "We find out why they attacked us."

"Probably mercenaries from Sung," Viper said, slithering forward with a wince. "Whose turn is it for interrogation?"

"I think it's mine," Tigress said, thinking back. "Because you did it last time with those geese…"

"We should probably tie them up," Monkey said. "You know, before they wake up?"

Everyone agreed to this, and soon the boars were all tied together. Tigress watched them with unease. This was a message.

She could almost hear his voice. 'I can find you,' he said, laughing cruelly.

A chill ran down her back. She growled and flicked her tail, waiting for the boars to awaken. She had a message of her own to deliver.

The boar opened his eyes and nearly peed himself.

Two angry scarlet eyes were glaring at him. Within moments, he realized that he was face-to-face with Master Tigress, one of the greatest Kung Fu masters ever. And he was tied up and helpless.

"M-master Tigress," he stuttered.

The tiger growled. "You know my name. I want yours."

"Sh-sh-Shu," he said.

"Who do you work for?"

The boar opened his mouth to answer, but found that he was too terrified to speak.

"Who. Do. You. Work. For?" Tigress snarled, taking a menacing step forward. She was an imposing figure, even if you didn't know her legend.

"S-Sung. Master Sung," he said quickly.

"Why are you here?"

He gaped, trying to speak.

"Answer me!"

"Bring back you and the Dragon Warrior," he said, speaking as fast as he could.

"Why?"

"I- I don't-"

"Why?"

"I don't know! That's just what we were told to do! Please, don't- I mean, I-"

Tigress stopped him with a growl. "I could kill you."

The boar visibly trembled.

"We're going to knock you out again. After that, we will cut the ropes. When you wake up, go directly back to Master Sung and tell him this: We will _never_ call him our master. If you even think about trying to track us again, I _will_ kill you. Understood?"

The boar bobbed his head like it was on a string.

"Oh, and one more thing," Tigress said. She leaned in closer and said something that no one but Shifu could hear. The boar's eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped in surprise, which was when Tigress clapped her hands over his temples again, and he fell unconscious. After ensuring that all the other boars were unconscious as well (and that they would stay like that for a while) she cut the ropes with her claws.

"Whoa. That was like… scary," Po said. "Like before, they were all macho, and then you totally scared the crap out of them-"

Tigress shot him a glare. "Let's get going. I don't want to be here when they wake up." She walked forward, the others slightly ahead of her.

Suddenly, a hand caught her arm. She turned and saw Shifu standing there. "Master," she said, her voice bitter.

"Tigress-" Before he could finish, she'd yanked her arm from his grasp and had sped up until she was with the rest of the group. Shifu sighed. "Don't do anything you'll regret, Tigress," he murmured.

**Later That Night**

Tigress once again sat with her legs dangling over a cliff, her back to a small citron tree. The tree was in bloom, though it hadn't born fruit yet.

Closing her eyes and trying to meditate, she found that her mind kept wandering back to the events of earlier that day, and to the message she had given Shu.

Her muscles tensing in frustration, she opened her eyes and pounded the ground beside her. Inner peace? Ha, she couldn't even meditate right now, let alone find peace within herself.

"You know, beating up the dirt isn't going to help," a voice behind her said. She turned.

"Po. I didn't know you were there."

The panda shrugged and walked up beside her. "Something up?"

Tigress sighed slightly and leaned back against the citron tree. "You could say that."

He waited a moment, then said, "Hey, if you need someone to talk to…"

She bit her tongue (not the best idea with fangs), then said, "You must swear you won't tell anyone."

The panda said, "Okay, I promise. What's up?"

Tigress growled low in the back of her throat. "Never mind."

"Tigress," Po said looking at her curiously. "What's wrong? You've been acting weird all day."

That was when she snapped. "Yeah? Well, you'd be acting weird if you were going off to fight the man that left you for dead!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Master Sung is a tiger, Po."

There was dead silence for a moment, while Po tried to analyze this. Then his eyes widened. "Oh gods."

She growled and made as if to stand, but thought better of it. "He wants me back. He knows that I'm his daughter, and now that I'm a master he wants me back." She pounded the ground again.

"But…how would he know?" Po asked. "I mean, if he left you at Bao Gu-"

"There was one tiger cub there, panda," she hissed. "One. And wouldn't it be ironic if that one tiger cub was adopted by the friend-turned-enemy of her father?"

"But why would he give you up?" the panda pressed. "I mean, if you could become the greatest kung fu master in China-"

Tigress stood up. "Look at me!" she nearly shouted. "What am I, Po?"

"Uh…a very mad tiger?"

"A woman," she hissed. "A female." She laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that's right. My father gave me up because I was a girl, and you can't exactly train a girl to become a kung fu master, can you?"

Po blinked. "But you are-"

"I know!" she yelled. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know. And that's why he wants me back. Because Shifu trained me and proved them all wrong."

There was a long silence, before Po said, "That sucks."

She laughed again, in that same bitter way. She sat back down. "Yes, it does. It's not exactly easy being a woman in a man's profession, you know."

"Yeah. I guess."

"It's not the worst thing ever, though," she said, smiling a little, though it was still said. "I mean, it's better than sitting around waiting for your father to marry you off to some old rich goose. Most women my age have a gazillion children and do whatever their husband tells them to."

"Not exactly your style," Po said.

"No." She smiled a little wider, and this time it was happier, too. More like her usual confident, hard-core self.

That was when he realized something important. "You said you knew about this before we went after Shen."

"Yes."

"Then…you were dealing with it, too."

She nodded.

"How come you didn't say anything?"

She gave him a dour look. "What was there to say?"

"You must've been freaking out on the inside. I mean, it sucks to find out your parents aren't who you thought they were, especially one

She looked up at the sky. "I didn't know who he was until just a few weeks ago. There'd been rumors about some crazy tiger starting an army, but everyone thought it was just talk…until a few days ago. And so now I have a madman for a father and he wants me to come back and help him take over China."

Po laughed. "Yeah, it does sound kind of crazy." He grinned at her, and she smirked back, though it seemed forced.

He looked up at the tree. "Hey, is this a citron?"

"Yes," Tigress said, surprised. "Why?"

"My dad makes citron cakes sometimes. I'm still trying to figure out how, every time I try it ends up tasting like burnt citron." He picked one of the flowers off the tree. "No fruit yet, though."

"Not yet. But give it time." She smiled a little, and this time, it was genuine.

"I should get back to camp," Po said, standing up. He put the small flower into her hands, then left.

Tigress watched him go, then gently closed her paw over the blossom, careful not to crush it. The sweet, lemony fragrance of citron and the quiet chirping of crickets heightened the sense of being in a dream. After a few moments of peace, she sighed and stood, following her companion back to camp.

Shifu sighed and drew back. He couldn't tell them tonight; he positively refused to ruin their fragile happiness.

The memory of the day's attack reminded him that he didn't have much time, and the longer he procrastinated, the more of a chance that it would be too late.

But no. Not tonight. He'd tell them tomorrow. For now, he could let them think that everything was perfectly normal.


	6. Chapter 6 The Yin and Yang

Chapter 6: The Yin and Yang

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. Also, I got my information on Yin and Yang from (That's for this chapter and all following it unless I directly mention otherwise).

A/N: Totally unrelated to the subject, but I really want to watch that new show on Disney XD called Kickin' It, but I don't know what channel it's on, so if someone knows, please tell me.

**Next Morning (Day 4 of Journey)**

As the furious five packed up camp and Po doused the cooking fire, Viper couldn't help but notice the small yellow flower tucked behind Tigress' ear. Even more obvious were the frequent glances shared between the tiger master and the panda. However, being the only other female in the group, she was pretty sure no one else noticed.

She had to talk to Tigress, _alone_. Viper slithered up to her friend and wrapped her tail around the tiger master's ankle.

Tigress looked down, surprised and not a little annoyed. "What is it?"

"Come with me," Viper said, jerking her head and unwrapping herself from Tigress' foot. She slithered a ways away, Tigress following behind. Once they were out of earshot, Tigress crossed her arms and said, "What?"

"You _never_ wear flowers," Viper said pointedly.

Tigress' ears flattened slightly in defense. "Your point?"

"My point is, there's something between you and Po. You keep denying it, but there's definitely a connection." If she'd had arms, she would have crossed them. "You've got a flower in your fur. What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing!" Tigress snapped. "And since when do you care what I wear?"

Viper gave her an incredulous look. "You're wearing a _flower_. A flower! Tigress, you've never done anything so feminine in your life!"

Tigress growled. "Thank you, Viper, that's so encouraging."

"You're trying to impress him, Tigress. Just admit it, you've fallen for Po."

Tigress full-out snarled this time, her ears flat against her head. "I haven't!"

"Tigress? Viper?"

They both stopped their arguing at the sounds of their names. Master Shifu was walking up to them. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

"Sorry, Master Shifu," the both said, bowing.

"It's time to leave."

"Yes, Master," said Viper. She glanced up at Tigress and whispered, "We'll talk about this later."

Tigress waited a moment, then followed her master and her friend back to camp. She'd have to think of some good excuses for her behavior, or else 'later' would not be a good experience.

**Just Before Sunset**

Shifu sat in the middle of the clearing, attempting to meditate. Unfortunately for him, his _Inner Peace_ was evading him, and he knew why.

Sighing, he stood up and braced himself against his master's staff for support. This was going to be difficult, and probably painful for both of his students.

Quietly, he headed back to the camp, where he was surprised to find only the males relaxing- or, in this case, laughing their heads off at Po's imitation of one of the well-known annoying residents of the Valley of Peace (this one being Mrs. Stuts, a batty old goat that had a habit of mistaking people for her long-lost lover).

"Where are Tigress and Viper?" Shifu asked them, disrupting the entertainment.

Monkey shrugged. "They left a little bit ago, that way." He pointed. "Something about having to talk?"

Shifu recalled Viper's whisper (which he had, of course, heard). "Thank you, Monkey. Po, I'll need you to come along in a minute."

"Uh, sure, Master," Po said, then went back to his imitation. "'Oh, Wang, I always knew you'd come back!'"

Shifu walked in the way Monkey had pointed, and soon he could hear the arguments of the two women. His lips twitched slightly as heard what they were arguing about, and he thought ruefully that this was going to be even harder than he'd thought.

"Tigress," he said, coming up to them. Both masters stopped, surprised, then Tigress said (going slightly red), "Er, yes, Master?"

"I need you to come with me. There is something I need to tell you."

Tigress hid her confusion well, though Shifu noticed how she glanced at Viper, their argument already forgotten, for the time being. "Yes, Master Shifu."

She followed him back, Viper slithering just behind, and then watched as Po also stood up. Her eyes narrowed. Something was up.

As the three of them walked quite a ways away from camp and into a small copse of trees, Po began to get worried. Neither Master Shifu or Tigress had said anything to him, and he was beginning to think that he was in trouble (again). However, one look at Tigress' face told him that she was as confused as he was.

Master Shifu stopped and turned around. "Now that we are out of earshot, I would suppose you have some questions for me."

"Just one, Master," Tigress said.

"Why I brought you out here?"

She nodded.

Shifu sighed. "A few nights ago, I…had a visitation."

"You mean from like a ghost?" Po asked.

"In a sense. Master- My master, that is- appeared to me and told me the way to beat Sung."

"Okaaaaay…" Po said. "Master you've got to stop eating weird stuff before you go to sleep."

Shifu's eyes flashed. "It was no dream, panda! I know what I saw, and what Master Oogway told me makes sense." The red panda closed his eyes wearily for a moment, before opening them. "He- and now I- believe that our only chance of defeating sun is the Eye of the Dragon."

There was dead silence from both Tigress and Po. Tigress' was from being stunned, whereas Po's was from confusion.

"Uh…So where do we find it?" he said. "Do we have to go chase a dragon or-"

"The Eye of the Dragon is not an actual object," Shifu interrupted. "It's a technique that calls on the power of the Yin and the Yang."

"What?" Po said, still not understanding.

"The Yin-Yang is the balance of the universe," Tigress said, bending down and drawing the Yin-Yang in the dirt. "Day and night, life and death, everything. It's often symbolized by-" her eyes widened. "Master you cannot be serious."

"I'm afraid so, Tigress."

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" Po asked. " 'Cause seriously, I'm lost."

"The Eye of the Dragon is, as I said, a technique that harnesses the power of Yin and Yang, which is often symbolized by a Tiger and a Dragon. The Eye of the Dragon is a strong mental and emotional unity between tiger, and Dragon Warrior. That, Tigress, is why I was originally so sure that you were the Dragon Warrior. I believed that you were the perfect combination of both. Evidently, I was wrong." He closed his eyes again. "The Eye of the Dragon is not one person, but two. The Yin and the Yang are not one item; they are separate, forever chasing each other, though holding a bit of each other in their centers. In other words, one cannot exist without the other."

"How come you didn't tell us this before?" Tigress demanded. Then her eyes narrowed. "You didn't think I could handle it."

"Tigress-"

"You thought I'd fail."

"For gods' sake, Tigress, you detested him from the moment you saw him! How was I to know you didn't still wish him dead?"

Tigress growled, then turned on her paws and strode away.

"What's up with her?" Po said, still not getting it.

Shifu glanced at him, surprised. Then, his face softened. "You don't understand, do you?"

The panda thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Shifu sighed. "Po, what are your…thoughts…about Master Tigress?"

"Well…She's totally _awesome_ at Kung Fu!"

"Po."

The panda cringed. "Okay, okay. I get it. But what does _that_ have to do with this whole dragon eye thing?"

"Eye of the Dragon," Shifu corrected. "And it has everything to do with it. The Yin cannot exist without the support of the Yang, and vice versa. You and Tigress are polar opposites, but when you work together, your skill is unbeatable."

"Whoa. Seriously?"

"Don't you remember yesterday's fight?" Shifu snapped. "What the other four could not do, the two of you together accomplished on your own."

"You helped," Po pointed out.

"Yes, but it was the two of you who completed the task." Shifu sighed and rubbed his huge ears. "You and Tigress will need to learn the Eye of the Dragon Sequence, or we're all dead men. The fate of China once again rests in your hands, Dragon Warrior. Be careful with it." And with that, he turned and followed Tigress' path, leaving the panda to stand there and wonder once again how on earth he was supposed to do this.


	7. Chapter 7 Bao Gu

Chapter 7:

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: I thought I ought to put it here that, just in case anyone's wondering, yes, there is a reason I don't have any swearing in this (or if I do, it'll be very, very minor). Said reason is because the KFP movies are PG and made for all ages, which includes little kids. There isn't any swearing in them, so I thought it'd make the plot too OOS (out-of-story), but then again, maybe I'm just a wimp.

**Next Day, Traveling (Day 5 of Journey)**

Tigress pointedly refused to look at Po, and whenever he tried to talk to her, she growled/hissed/snarled at him. Every time she did this, the others would share a worried glance. Shifu had told them about the Eye of the Dragon, and they all knew that one bad move or, should anyone be stupid enough to make one, a teasing romantic comment could set the tiger master off. And a ticked-off Tigress was something no one wanted to see.

The hours passed rather slowly, as no one really thought it a good idea to talk. Eventually, their master broke the silence. "There is a small town up ahead," Shifu said, when the sun had reached the midpoint in the sky. "We will stop there to eat and then continue."

They reached the town about fifteen minutes later. As Tigress looked around, her breath quickened.

"Tigress? Something up?" Po said, forgetting his vow to stay silent if he valued life.

The tiger master licked her lips. "No. I'm fine."

Suddenly, an older pig lady bumped into her, and was knocked flat on her back. Tigress blinked and quickly knelt down to help her up. "My apologies, I-"

The pig lady suddenly screamed and wrenched her hand from Tigress' grasp. "SHE'S BACK!" she shouted, scrambling up and backing away as if Tigress was on fire. "THE MONSTER'S BACK! RUN! _RUUUUUN!_"

Tigress watched her go, her mouth agape. Slowly, the other villagers began to back away, whispering "It _is_ her!" "How'd she get back here? I thought she was gone for good!" and "Dear gods, what if she goes on a rampage?"

Tigress took a few steps back. "I'll wait outside the village," she muttered. "You guys can eat. Get me when your done." Without waiting for an answer, she quickly turned and walked out of the town as fast as she could. Once she was past the last of the small houses, she got dropped on all fours and broke into a full run.

Collapsing on the grass, she rolled up into a small ball and tried to choke back tears.

She didn't know how long it was before she heard someone say quietly, "Tigress?"

She froze, then growled, "Go away, Po."

Instead of leaving, she heard the heavy thump as the panda sat down beside her. After a moment, he said, "Hey, are you crying?"

She lifted her head, and he saw that while she wasn't crying, it wouldn't be that way for long. "No," she growled, but her eyes weren't angry, they were scared.

Po blinked, positively stunned. Tigress looked terrified, even more terrified than when she'd been chained up and about to die. Right now, she seemed even more helpless and vulnerable than then. Something was really wrong, and Po knew it. Tigress wasn't supposed to look like that!

"Uh…Okay, you're probably going to kill me for asking this, but…what's wrong?"

Tigress was about to tell him in no uncertain terms that if he didn't leave, he'd end up extremely injured, when she realized that, stupid and clichéd as it was, she wanted someone to vent to.

"This is Bao Gu," she said finally, unwrapping her arms. "I grew up here, in the town orphanage."

"Yeah, I know. So what does that have to do with that crazy old pig?" Po joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Tigress' eyes darkened. "I wasn't exactly…the best-behaved child."

"Uh…no," Po said, remembering what he knew about Tigress' past. "Not really."

"She was probably one of the people that came to see about adoption. The whole town knew about 'the monster of the orphanage.'" Tigress laughed bitterly, though it sounded more like a sob.

"Oh." He didn't exactly know what else to say.

"I hate them," she said, her paws curling into fists. "I _hate_ them! How dare they call me a monster! I'm not a monster, I- I'm just…different."

"Yeah, well…Nobody really gives 'different' people much of a chance, huh?" Po said, remembering every time someone had totally disregarded him because of his weight.

Tigress' mouth opened in surprise, as she realized what he was talking about. Then something in her chest dropped as her own memories of the first month or so with the panda came flooding back. "Yes," she said, looking away.

"Hey, Tigress, that's- seriously, it's fine," he said, knowing immediately what she was talking about. "Like, totally."

Tigress smiled a little at that. "Alright." Then, her smile slowly faded, and again she looked away from her friend.

"Tigress," Po said gently. "They're _wrong_, okay? You're not a monster."

"But-"

"Being strong doesn't make you some sort of freak. You're totally awesome, just like this."

Suddenly, Tigress wrapped her arms around him. She stayed there like that for a moment, hugging the stunned panda, and then stiffened and withdrew. She looked at the obvious shock on his face and smirked. "Not exactly 'hard-core,' huh?"

"Naw. But that's okay." He grinned. "Master Shifu and the others should be done by now, we should-"

He stopped as a faint scream echoed through the air. Tigress stood up. "That sounds like it's coming from Bao Gu."

"You think someone's hurt?" Po asked.

"Maybe," she answered. "Let's go."

They ran back to Bao Gu, Po panting slightly when they finally reached the town.

"There!" Tigress said, bounding forward towards the terrible scene.

About two dozen wolves and boars were fighting Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane, and Master Shifu in the main street. The five of them were holding their own fairly well (certainly better than the day before), but it wasn't going to be long before they were in hot water.

Without even stopping to confirm a plan, both warriors immediately charged into the fight.

Tigress flipped one boar onto his head, and turned to the next enemy, this one a wolf. Her world turned to a ruby haze of battle and blood, and her ears were filled with the sounds of screams and war-cries.

Suddenly, she felt rather than saw a battle-axe descend towards Master Shifu. She finished off the wolf she was fighting and then, whirling around, forced her paw through Shifu's attacker's chest.

Time froze as her claws ripped through the tissues of his heart, warm blood drenching the fur on her paw and spurting from the wound. There was a sudden terror in the wolf's eyes, and then his body went limp as the life drained from his body.

Then time sped up again, and she tore her claws back, the body falling on the ground.

Breathing heavily and looking around for the next attacker, she noticed that they were all gone- most dead, a few unconscious. She sucked in a few deep breaths and straightened up.

That was when she noticed that everyone was looking at her- or, more specifically, the half of a heart in her claws. She realized with something like dulled shock that it was from the wolf she'd killed. It must've clung to her claws when she pulled out her paw.

Whispers began to arise as she dropped it, her paw shaking and blood splattering everywhere. Her ears twitched as her expert hearing picked up what the crowds were saying. One word, the most frequently used, penetrated her thoughts. _"Monster." "Monster."_

"FREAK!" someone screamed at her. "FREAK!"

She stumbled back, as if the words had struck her. Suddenly a strong, furry arm stopped her, half-catching her. She looked over at the face of an angry panda. He steadied her, then took a step forward.

"She's not a freak!" he shouted back. "She's one of the greatest Kung Fu masters ever! And she just saved all of your butts!"

"She's a murderer!" one of the people in the crowd yelled. "She'll kill all of us!"

That was when Tigress couldn't take it anymore. Four years- four straight years!- she'd been shunned and dubbed a monster. She'd taken it then, she wasn't going to take it now.

"Would you rather I'd let him kill you all?" she said angrily, stepping forward to where Po was standing. When no one answered, her face contracted into a snarl. "Fine. I'll remember that next time. And with that, she turned around and walked away, the crowds parting around her like the red sea.

**A/N: Sorry, short chapter, I know. My bad!**


	8. Chapter 8 Exposure

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. Never have, never will.

**Same Day, After Dark, Forests of North-East China, Traveling Again (Day Five of Journey)**

Tigress was, once again, in a foul mood. Nobody thought it a good idea to talk to her, so, well, they didn't.

The tiger master had been fuming to herself for nearly seven hours. How _dare_ those villagers act to her like that, how _dare_ they call her a murderer after she saved them, how _dare_ they have the gall to treat like some sort of savage beast all because- because-

Her stomach convulsed as she remembered the feeling of the wolf's heart, still warm and wet with fresh blood, the scent of it overpowering her sense of smell and making her feel sickened to the core, the look on that wolf's eyes as he died-

_No,_ she ordered herself. _Master's life was in danger, you did what had to be done._

"Stop," Shifu ordered from the front. "We'll make camp here tonight."

The weary travelers all sighed with relief, even Tigress.

At least, until Shifu said, "Po, Tigress, come with me."

It took every ounce of self-control Tigress had not to groan. Kung Fu master she may have been, but she'd been walking all day for five days straight. She was _tired_.

Nonetheless, she followed her master and Po a ways into the trees. They came upon a fairly secluded clearing, in which Shifu stopped them. The small red panda pulled a scroll from the inside of his tunic and unfurled it, the ancient paper crinkling as he did so.

"Whoa. Is that, like, a magic spell sheet or something?" Po said.

"In a sense, panda. This are the steps to the Eye of the Dragon sequence." He showed them the paper, upon which was printed a series of complicated steps done by two partners, one shaped like a tiger, and the other like a dragon.

Tigress studied it for a moment. "Difficult, but not impossible." She glanced up at her master. "Has anyone ever done this before?"

"No. The Eye of the Dragon was designed by an old seer that prophesized the coming of these days to Master Oogway. He was the only one to have seen this scroll until today. That is why you were chosen as the Dragon Warrior, Po, and not Tigress. You were chosen by my master for a reason. Master Oogway, as always, was smarter than us all." Shifu glanced up at the sky for a moment.

"Hold on," Po said, putting up a paw. "But Oogway was going to choose Tigress. I mean, he was walking towards her and everything."

"I thought that as well," Shifu said, shifting slightly. "But now, after everything I've seen…I'm almost positive that he had no intention of choosing you whatsoever, Tigress. I believe that somehow he knew where he was supposed at that point in time." He closed his eyes, remembering that horrible day. Then he opened them. "You, Tigress, are the Yin: the cold, the moon, the female, and, of course, the tiger. Po, you are the Yang: the warmth, sun, male, and dragon. Water and fire, winter and summer, death and life, the list continues. You are the two 'Eyes' of the dragon, though technique is called 'Eye' or singular, because Yin and Yang, while being separate, form one circle. Understood?"

"Yes, Master," Tigress said, at the same time that Po answered, "Uh, no. Not really."

Shifu sighed and showed him a picture of the Yin-Yang in the top corner of the scroll. Two shapes. One circle. Yes?"

"Oh. Okay. So, if I'm the Dragon Warrior in this whole shish kebab, then what's Tigress?"

"Master Tigress is the Lotus Tiger."

"What?" both masters said, now absolutely confused.

"The lotus is symbolical for rising from destruction. The lotus blooms from the mud, perfection amidst chaos and deceit."

Tigress snorted. "If you want perfect, Master, you should probably look somewhere else."

Shifu chuckled. "I know, Tigress. _Believe_ me, I know."

"Thanks," Tigress muttered under her breath.

Please understand," Shifu continued, "I'm just repeating what I myself have learned about this. A Yin-Yang is often drawn inside a lotus flower." He handed them the scroll. "Practice for no more than an hour, and then come back to camp for some dinner.

"Yes, Master," both students said, bowing. Shifu bowed back, then handed Tigress the scroll and left them to their training.

"So. Let's do this thing!" Po said.

Tigress shot him a glare. "Po. If you don't mind, could we please take this seriously?"

"Oh, yeah! Totally!"

Tigress bit back a growl and once again unfurled the sequence scroll. "Alright. First step. The Yin calls on the power of the Yin-Yang Balance. Studying the scroll, she executed a number of strikes onto invisible opponents. "And the Yang blocks the Yin."

Po's eyes opened. "Block? You? Noooo way."

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "You do it all the time in sparring."

"Yeah, but you're not expecting it there, you know? Won't you flip me on my back or something?"

Tigress rolled her scarlet eyes. "Haven't you learned anything? I'm more likely to flip you when I don't know what you're going to do than when I do. Come on and just do the sequence." She put the scroll on a boulder nearby (convenient how there's always one there when she needs one, isn't it?) and said to Po, "Look it over and then come over here. First ten moves."

Po looked over at the sheet and studied the first ten steps out of what looked to be about thirty or so. The Yang blocked the Yin for five, before the roles reversed. Unfortunately for him and Tigress, the blocks weren't all that easy. As a matter of fact, they were downright confusing.

By the time the hour was up, they had only half of the moves down **(A/N: For learning a kata, which is what they call it in karate, that's bad)**. Shifu came through the clearing and said, "How have you done?"

"We have- about half- of it learned,- Master," Tigress said, panting. She and Po were engaged in a very complicated block/arm-lock that had her half-lifting Po into the air.

"Would you mind releasing him for a moment and showing me?" Shifu said politely.

Completely fed up, Tigress didn't waste any time setting Po down nicely. She roughly threw him on the ground and stood up.

"Oww…" Po mumbled, standing up. "Yes, Master Shifu."

Both students bowed to their master and to the sequence *, and then set in on blocking and striking each other. Shifu watched them silently until the end (or the half-way, as it was), then said, "Did either of you happen to read what was above the sequence?"

There was dead silence as both masters looked at each other guiltily.

Shifu sighed. "I'd hoped that you would, I wasn't exactly thrilled about having to explain this to you. Very well, you shall read it now; Tigress, you first."

The tiger master picked up the sheet. As she read, her eyes narrowed more and more, until she finally jerked the paper down to her side and barred her fangs instinctively, positively furious.

"Now you, Po," Shifu said wearily.

"Uh…can you get it? 'Cause seriously, I don't think it's a good idea-"

"Panda."

Po swallowed and inched towards Tigress. He lightly put brushed the paper with one of his fingers, and Tigress' head whipped around, growling.

"Er- sorry…" Po said, backing away.

Tigress snarled, then let go of the paper and nearly threw it to the ground. Master Shifu quickly stuck out his staff and caught it, then handed it to Po. "Read it, Dragon Warrior."

Po grasped the paper in his furry black fingers and began to read it to himself.

The original emotional connection between the Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Tiger is key in this sequence. _Emotional- wait- what?_ Thought Po. To be able to advance far enough to complete the sequence correctly (and without over-exerting yourselves) your link must advance so far that your spirits bond as one. Obviously, this will be difficult, but with your romantic relationship-

Po dropped the paper, his mouth hanging open. Tigress shot Shifu a furious glare. "I'm guessing he got to the part about the 'romantic relationship,'" she said sarcastically.

"I believe you are right," Shifu said grimly.

Po bent down and scrambled for the paper.

-but with your romantic connection, it should be not as hard as, per say, two people who absolutely detest each other. Please note that the aforementioned emotional connection is absolutely imperative to mastering this technique. The link between souls must grow enough to make the _Inner Peace_ each of you individually retain form into one. My best wishes to each of, and good luck. –_Chow, Seer of Things to Come_

Po looked up at his master, not daring to meet Tigress' eyes. "You're kidding, right? To do this whole 'Eye of the Dragon' thing, Tigress and I have to fall in lo- lo- Master Shifu, this is totally crazy!"

"I agree," Tigress said, snarling. "Po and I- there is- there's nothing between us, certainly nothing romantic!"

Shifu closed his eyes and sighed. "Tigress. Enough with the lies, please."

Her mouth moved, as if she was trying to say something, but no words came out.

"You two are obviously more than friends, and it pains me that it takes me- your _master_, of all people!- to get the two of you to admit this! Whether you acknowledge it or not, you two share a connection, any fool can see that."

Tigress was seething with rage. "You're wrong," she hissed, her paws clenched into shaking fists. Suddenly, she roared and whirled around, slashing at one of the trees. Both her master and her friend watched in a stunned silence; Shifu hadn't seen her lose her temper like this for nearly twenty years, and Po had never seen it, ever.

Tigress ran into the forest, leaving them behind to stand there, stunned. Suddenly, Po broke out of his shocked stupor and ran after her. "Tigress!"

Shifu closed his eyes once again, and he sank to the ground. _What have I done?_


	9. Chapter 9 A Knife Through the Heart

Chapter 9- Knife Through the Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: this chapter is short and mostly romance, so I'm apologizing to my readers. Obviously this story has some action and I intend to put more in soon, but I felt this just needed to be there.

**Same Day, Forest (Day 5 of Journey)**

"Tigress!"

Po ran through the forest, crashing heavily through the forest and trying to follow the trail that had made by Tigress' furious rampage. She'd lost her temper; bad. Po was just grateful that she'd decided to mutilate the trees instead of him.

He stopped and thought about what he was doing. Chasing after a ticked-off Tigress who was chopping down trees to prevent herself from murdering _him_ was not his best idea ever, and that was saying something.

Then, just as he was about to turn back, he stopped. What kind of a friend was he if he didn't go after her when she was in pain?

Suddenly, he heard a loud cracking sound, like wood. Quietly, he began to walk towards the sounds of the cracks. Within moments, he came upon the noise maker.

It was, of course, Tigress.

She was beating up a small but sturdy tree, kicking it and punching it like it had just murdered her family.

He took a few steps forward. Tigress was too preoccupied to notice, and he took a few more. When she still didn't see him, he said softly, "Master Tigress?"

Tigress froze, then whirled around, surprised. Then it hardened. "Po. What are you doing here?" she said, her voice even harsher and more bitter than earlier that day.

He didn't answer right away, and Tigress pulled herself up onto a branch. Po tried to follow, but after deciding that climbing onto a thin branch was not the best idea, he stayed on the ground.

"So…this whole thing's crazy, right?" Po said, after a moment.

"Insane," Tigress said in a low voice, her head turned away.

"I mean, Shifu thinks we're like a couple or somethi-"

Tigress snarled, cutting him off.

Po blinked. "Uh…okay, sorry."

"It's not like any guy would want me anyway," she said, not sounding particularly upset. "I break everything I touch, and that includes relationships."

That was when Po decided to take a chance. "What if…some guy did want you?" he said hesitantly.

Tigress didn't answer.

"What if _I_ wanted you, Tigress?" he continued.

That was when she snapped. "Well, I don't want you, _Po_." She spat the name like it was some sort of poison. "I said it before and I'll say it again: you're just a big, annoying panda that treats this all like a game!"

That was going too far. "Oh yeah?"

"Yes. All of my problems started the moment you 'fell from the sky' and landed in front of Oogway."

"Okay, I get it now!" he said angrily. "You know what the real problem is here?"

"What?"

"You're jealous of the Dragon Warrior."

"Jealous?" she said, jumping down from the tree so that they were face to face. "I never wanted to the 'Dragon Warrior,' panda. The only reason I trained for it- for twenty years, by the way!- was for him!" she hissed, pointing back towards the way they'd come. It took Po a moment to realize she was pointing back towards Shifu. "_He_ wanted that, not me. And besides, why should _I_ be jealous? You mean _nothing_ to me, understand? You could fall off a cliff right now and I wouldn't cry. You could be burning to death and I wouldn't give you a cup of water! I really _couldn't_ care less what happened to you, because I don't care about you _at all_."

Po was getting upset and not a little angry. "Oh yeah? Well, who's the cold, heartless witch that doesn't care about anyone but herself?"

"I guess that would be me, wouldn't it?" she shot back.

"Yeah! And you want to know what else?"

"Oh, go ahead and tell me!" she snarled.

"You never give anyone respect. Not me, not the others, not even Master Shifu."

Tigress snarled. "Maybe it's because you haven't earned it!"

"Oh yeah? Well in case you're forgetting, you'd probably be dead right now if not for me!"

"Please, without me, you'd be dead meat."

"I can take care of myself, I don't need some _girl_ looking after me!"

"Fine! Next time, you can take out all the bandits and mercenaries on your own."

"I will!"

She barked out a laugh, her voice harsh and condescending. "There you go again, so over-confident. This isn't some game, panda. This is life!"

"You think I don't know that?"

"I know you don't know that! It's why I'm always saving you!"

"You-"

"Look, panda, maybe you're too stupid to get this through your head: _I don't care about you._ If you've got any 'feelings' for me, I'm not interested in overweight pandas that like making noodles." She glared at him. "Why don't you do us all a favor and drop off the face of the earth? Nobody _likes_ you, nobody _wants_ you, and nobody _cares_ about you, least of all me." And with that, she snarled and walked away.

Po watched her vanish into the forest, hands shaking with either anger of pain- probably a lot of both. He felt like Tigress had just stabbed him through the heart with a sword. Something inside him broke, and he slumped to the ground, all his strength gone.

Tigress' walk quickly turned into a run as tears began to spill down her striped face, the world blurring in front of her. Veering off the path of destruction she had made earlier for fear that Po or Shifu would try to find her by following it, she ran off into the trees.

Suddenly, her paw caught a root, and she fell to the ground, sobbing. How could she have said those things? It hadn't even been a minute and already the guilt was clawing its way up her chest. Po was right, she really was heartless; how could she have done that to him?

As the image of Po's face as she said how little she cared about him- a combination of anger, disbelief, and a staggering amount of pain- burned the inside of her eyelids, the answer screamed inside her mind:

She was scared.

She was scared. Plain and simple. She was terrified of having to do this- not of Po, not about falling for him, not about him liking her back- but of linking her soul and her life to someone else, and giving her every secret to the panda. There were a lot of things about her that she was happy no one else knew, and she didn't want to know all of his. To become bonded like that to someone that most people didn't do until years after they were married **(A/N: Remember, this is set back in the day of arranged marriages)**. To know that she was being dragged into this unprepared, without consent, and having no control of the situation was not something Tigress was accustomed to or liked.

_Maybe… Maybe I should go back and apologize…_

She growled and lashed her tail furiously. No. She would _not_ apologize. It was his fau-

_No, it's not._

Yes, it was. It was his fault for falling out of the sky and becoming the Dragon Warrior-

_He didn't chose it. It's not his fault. He just wanted to see you._

Some part of that made her feel happy and good on the inside- probably the part about him wanting to see her- but it was quickly extinguished by the insurmountable amount of fear, anger, and guilt that was threatening to overwhelm her.

She stayed there for a while, just crying. It was something she hadn't done in a long time. Some part of her wanted to go and make up, but her pride and her fear held her back. Slowly, the tears stopped, and she stood up, drying off her fur. That was the good thing about being a south-China Bengal; no one could ever tell when you'd been crying.

She walked back to camp, and was surprised to see Po already there. They both refused to look at each other, and when they did, their faces were blank and emotionless.

They were dead to each other now, officially. Nothing more than acquaintances, two masters who acknowledged each other only as traveling companions.

Shifu watched the two, waiting for some sign that perhaps everything was alright. Nothing.

He could have tried to fix it. He could have tried to get them to make peace. But he knew that there was nothing he could do. Po and Tigress' friendship had been irreparably damaged, and China's last hope for survival destroyed with it.

**A/N: Wow, Tigress kind of stabbed him in the heart there, huh? Ouch, I would not want to be either of them right now. **


	10. Chapter 10 Screwed

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: To memme10k- Whoo hoo another martial arts person! Crazy happy! (Does little happy dance). As for the really complex forms and katas, my sensei showed me one on his phone that the head senseis from the top dojo where I live are teaching all the other senseis, and believe me, it's tough. It took like 10 min to watch, and this girl was the daughter of one of the greatest karate masters in the world. Yeah I know what you mean about katas being long, I'm not high in ranks yet so the ones I do aren't too long, but I've seen some of the ones they do on testing day.

**Next Day, Traveling, (Day 6 of Journey)**

The rain came pouring down in torrents, drenching the seven warriors as they walked on the ground, which had turned from fertile grass to slick mud that clung to their legs (Crane's wing was still healing).

The water had soaked all the furred travelers to the core, and even Crane was becoming cold.

Suddenly, Shifu stopped, then whirled around. Searching the small party, he didn't find the one he was looking for. "Where's Viper?" he demanded.

There was a sudden silence as everyone looked around. There was a moment of confusion before everyone realized what must have happened.

"The rain must've gotten her so cold she stopped slithering," Tigress said, adrenaline screaming through her blood as her fear for her friend struck. "She's cold-blooded, if she's cold for too long she-"

"Dies," Crane croaked out, his terror obvious. "We have to find her!"

"We'll never reach her in time, man," Monkey said. "It was like an hour ago that she said something."

"Not by land." Crane said. Before anyone could ask what he meant, he pecked the splint off his arm and took to the air.

Immediately the wind tried to hurl him backwards from the direction he wanted to go. A splintering jolt spiked up across his injured arm, nearly blinding him with pain. Clamping his beak shut and squinting his eyes, he fought the gale as hard as he could.

He could tell that he wasn't gaining much headway, but he kept trying. Every time he was about to give up, the thought of Viper, dying alone while the bitter rain pounded her scaled body, gave him another extra boost.

Then, suddenly, he spotted her: an apple-green spec against the muddied brown. He tucked his wings in, ignoring another searing pain from his injured bone, and dove towards the ground.

Viper didn't even raise her head when he landed beside her, and for one terrible moment, he thought she was dead. "Viper?"

The snake was silent for a moment, and then he heard the faintest hiss, just before it was snatched away by the wind. "Crane?"

Crane nearly fell over in relief. "Viper, you're alive!"

"Yesssss….." she hissed, flinching as the rain pounded her body.

He reached up with his foot and took off his rain hat, which had somehow managed to not fall off, even in the wind. He covered the snake with it. "That better?" he yelled, over the roaring of the wind.

There was no answer from the underside of the hat, but Crane figured that that was a good thing.

After about five minutes, he leaned down closer to the hat and said, "We have to get back to the others."

The faintest answer came. "How?"

Crane thought for a moment. "I'll carry you. In my talons."

"No!"

The bird understood. Most predators of snakes were birds, who of course would choose to grab her in their talons.

"Viper-"

"No!" the denial came again. "Not in your talons. Not like that."

"Viper, I'm not going to eat you, you know that,"

There was a long silence, and then, "Okay. But…be careful."

Crane flipped over the rain hat and closed his talons around Viper, who shivered with barely restrained fear.

He hesitated, then once again took off into the roaring sky. He heard Viper cry out behind him, but from pain or shock, he wasn't sure. He was really hoping it was the second, and then the thought was driven from his mind as pain blasted through his wing.

It was much easier now that the wind was to his back, and he was back to where the others had stopped within minutes.

Everyone ran up to him as he landed, panting. He collapsed on the ground with pain, his wing screaming in protest from his flight. Viper was intertwined in his talons, and he slowly unclenched them. He was more than a little relieved when he saw that there was no blood on her from his talons, and that she was still breathing.

She slithered up to him, exhausted, and curled up beside him. He covered her with his good wing while the one of the others- he thought it was Po- picked them both up and sheltered them from the rain.

"How are you, man?" Monkey asked his friend. "What's wrong?"

"Wing," he gasped. "Viper- bad- help her-"

They slowly helped him uncurl his wing from around her, and Tigress gave the snake some water. Viper choked it down, then curled in closer to Crane, instinctively trying to get warm.

The travel was halted for about an hour while Crane and Viper were attended to. Crane was, naturally, the first to recover, as his only issue was a bad wing, but Viper was in critical condition. Crane refused to leave her side the entire time.

Once Po had agreed to carry her for the rest of the day, they decided to start walking again.

Because it was her best friend that was hurt, Tigress stayed close to Viper- and, consequentially, Po. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable situation for either of them. Every time Tigress looked at Po, she wanted to puke from the guilt that boiled up inside her stomach. It was burning hot and foul. She couldn't believe she'd said those things to him; if someone had said those things to her, she probably would have jumped off a cliff.

Po, on the other hand, was not contemplating suicide. He was really hurt- a lot more than he was letting on- but that wasn't something to kill yourself over. He was running the conversation through in his head for the millionth time that day. The way she'd pointed out the worst parts of him- his weight, his tendency to mess up/around at the worst times, and the way he didn't always get things right away- that was like getting shot through the heart.

_Doesn't she know I get it?_ He thought savagely. _Does she think I don't know about those things?_

He glanced over at her at the same time that she glanced at him. Emerald green and coal red gazes met for a moment, before both looked away.

**That Night**

Everyone was sitting around the fire, trying to dry off from the rainy day. The guys were all on one side, and the two girls were on the other. Master Shifu sat in between the two groups, creating sort of a barrier.

Suddenly, the red panda's ears flicked, and he looked around. "I heard wings flapping," he said.

Viper (who was feeling a lot better) uncoiled herself slightly and looked up. "Maybe it's Zeng," she suggested. "Poor goose, he probably had to fly all day to find us."

"I believe you're right, Viper," said Shifu, standing up. "I'll go meet him and find out why he has been following us." He quickly walked off into the forest.

The talk continued after he'd gone. Tigress sat there for a few minutes, not saying anything, before she finally stood up and said that she was going to meditate.

As she left, she passed by Shifu's staff and few belongings. She dismissed it with a glance, then looked back down. Her breathing sped up.

Out of the small pieces of cloth poked a piece of paper: the Yin half of the Eye of the Dragon sequence scroll, which she had torn in half. Making sure no one else was looking, she leaned over and took it, then tucked it into her vest and walked into the forest.

She sat down with her back against a tree, and closed her eyes, envisioning a grassy valley in between two mountains, just as the sun was rising in front of her and the moon behind her. There was a mist in the valley, and the closer she got to finding _Inner Peace_, the clearer the valley became. She had yet to completely clear the valley; when she did, she would find peace.

Today, the valley was very foggy. Try as she might, she couldn't clear it. Finally giving up, she tried to figure out what it was.

Well. She knew _exactly_ what it was, she just didn't want to admit it. It was guilt over what she had said to Po that was preventing her from finding inner peace.

Frustrated, she opened her eyes and stood up. Meditation wasn't going to work for her today. Just as she was about to begin a sequence, she stopped. After a moment's hesitation, she reached into her vest and pulled out the piece of paper. One glance told her that she hadn't been mistaken the day before; it was certainly a hard sequence, and Tigress never backed down to a challenge.

She slowly positioned herself into the first pose, and then transferred into the second. It came naturally to her, as if it were a sequence she knew a long time ago and had only half-forgotten. Suddenly, she felt a sensation that she hadn't felt before: a shock, like electricity, that ran through her whole body and made the world around her spin.

She found herself once again in her meditation valley, which was slowly becoming clearer as her mind focused only on the sequence.

That was when she noticed it. Way off in the distance, against the sun, she could see a figure. She ran towards it, though she was sure she already knew who it was. What was the most unsettling was that nothing like this had ever happened before, and it was beginning to look like her theory was right **(A/N: more on that soon)**.

When she reached his side, she noticed that Po was asleep, or something very much like it. She waved a paw in front of his face and said his name. Nothing.

That was when it occurred to her that while he was here, he wasn't meditating, so he wasn't 'awake,' so to speak.

A sudden idea sprouted in her head, and she tentatively reached out to touch his shoulder. She hesitated a moment, then touched him.

A shrieking pain spiraled through her body, and she was jerked back to the real world, collapsing to the ground. She closed her eyes, trying not to scream.

That was when the voices started.

"Man, what happened between you and Tigress?" Monkey asked, his voice echoing slightly. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"

The world was tinted slightly green, or at least greener than she was used to, and she could see Monkey, Crane, Mantis, and Viper sitting around the fire. When her 'eyes' involuntarily looked down, she saw two furry black paws.

This was the final proof to her theory. Once they had started the 'Eye of the Dragon' sequence, their souls had been linked together. That was why she had been as cruel as she had; she needed to destroy that link, to crush it so badly that the strengthening of the bond would stop before it could go any farther, before it could completely merge their spirits into one. Unfortunately, it seemed that she had failed.

"Yeah, you could say that," Po said.

"She found out she was the Lotus Tiger, huh?" Crane said.

"How'd you know about that?"

"Shifu had a lesson on prophecies," Mantis answered from where he was sitting on Monkey's shoulder. "Tigress was sick that day."

"She totally freaked when Shifu told her," Po said. "She got really ticked off and ran."

She hated the way he said that. It made her sound like a coward…which she was.

"Yeah, but that doesn't exactly mean you guys had a fight," Viper pointed out.

"Yeah, but…" heat rose to Po's cheeks. "I ran after her."

The other guys laughed (Monkey even wolf-whistled), whereas Viper gave them a reproving look and said, "Really, you guys, don't be mean. What happened after that, Po?"

"I tried to talk to her, she blew up, I blew up, and she left," Po said dully.

"Ouch," Crane commented.

"It's just because she won't admit she likes you," Viper said sympathetically.

"Oh, come on!" Po said. "I'm just a big, fat, stupid panda that thinks he's a warrior!"

They all drew a collective gasp at these words, and Viper said, "She said that?"

Po nodded.

That was when Tigress ripped herself away from the connection. Panting on the ground, she knew that she had to go apologize. She _had_ to.

She stood up and raced towards the camp. Within moments, she was standing at the edge of the forest.

"She's never this harsh," Viper said finally, breaking the silence. "Not for something like this. There must be something else going on."

"Maybe it's Sung."

It was a moment of confusion for most present, but Viper's eyes were open in fear and warning.

"What does Master Sung have to do with Tigress acting weird?" Crane asked.

"Well, he's her dad, right?"

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone stared at the panda. "Po!" Viper hissed angrily.

"You didn't know?" Po said. "I thought she told you."

Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened, and they all looked past him. Po stood up and turned around.

Tigress was staring at him, her look of anger and betrayal eerily similar to his from the night before. "I can't believe you," she said in a low voice. "That- that was not something to be told. I thought you understood that." She breathed in through her nose, trying to settle herself. It didn't work. "I came here because I thought I might have been wrong," she said, a growl rising in the back of her throat. "I wasn't."

Suddenly, she raised her hands into fighting stance. It was a challenge. Everyone knew what it meant, but they were still stunned. "Tigress-!" Viper said angrily, but Po cut her off.

"No," he said. "She insulted me and told me I was worthless. She's done it a million times before, and you know what? _I'm done taking it!_"

He walked over to where she was standing and stopped about five meters away. He raised his hands put his feet into fighting stance.

"Rules?" he asked in a low voice.

"No killing," she said, her face hard. "First to surrender loses."

There was a moment's hesitation while they waited for the other to attack, before they both leapt forward at the same time.

The fight was by far the worst that either warrior had ever been in. Whereas Tigress had the obvious advantage in experience and training, Po's size and talent made them evenly matched. Blood poured from numerous wounds on both of them, including a line of claw marks along Po's chest, and a broken rib of Tigress', which was jabbing out from her chest and had cut straight through the red vest.

Each stopped for a moment, breathing, before Tigress lashed out with a spinning kick. Po blocked and tried to flip her, but she struck him upside the head. He hit her in the abdomen with a kick, and she lashed out with her claws.

The cries of "STOP!" from their friends went unheard, and each warrior knew that he/she would never surrender. Their gazes were locked, red and green, and their blows were becoming more and more dangerous. If they weren't careful, someone was going to get horribly hurt.

Suddenly, a white and reddish-brown blur ran out from the forest. Flipping both warriors onto their backs, Shifu yelled, "What do you think you are doing?"

Tigress was immediately back on her feet, whereas Po groaned for a moment, then struggled up again. Both of them glared at each other. "What is going on here? You could have destroyed each other!"

"Oh, someone was going to get destroyed!" Tigress snarled.

"You fools, do you have any idea what you were doing?" he shouted, picking his staff up off the ground. "The Yin cannot defeat the Yang, the Yang cannot beat the Yin! If you try-"

"No offense, Master Shifu, but I don't care about that whole ying yan stuff. I'm sick of this _cat_ insulting me-"

"And I'm done with this panda and the way he treats all of this like a joke!" Tigress interrupted.

"She said-"

"He told-"

"Enough!" Shifu thundered, stopping both of them in their tracks. He closed his eyes. "Enough. I don't care what 'issues' you two are having right now, you are not to fight each other to the death!"

"But-"

"Master-"

"Maybe you don't quite understand this, but thanks to your inability to get along, we're all walking straight into a trap unprepared. You _don't_ know the Eye of the Dragon sequence, you can't go _ten minutes _without fighting, and the day tomorrow we're all going to appear at Devil's Pass with no idea how we're going to survive!" Shifu had never blown up at them like this before, but now the red panda was shouting at them as if they had blown up the Great Wall and were handing out welcome gifts to the Huns. "We have one day, no information, injured fighters and now thanks to you, no chance whatsoever!"

His last few words echoed in the stillness of the night, and everyone stared at him. Breathing heavily, Shifu said, "My apologies, I didn't mean to surprise you. But I am afraid that message Zeng delivered states that Sung's army is nearly double of what it was just six days ago."

"So to put it simply, we're screwed," Monkey said.

"Yes." Shifu leaned against his staff. None of his students had ever seen him so defeated. "We're 'screwed.'"


	11. Chapter 11 Peace and Parting Plans

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: To the reader that commented, I do traditional karate, jujitsu, and judo. And the kata was really, really hard (admittedly it wasn't a full ten minutes, it was more like eight, but I concede).

Also, well, I never thought I'd say this, but sorry for the fast update! I just kinda feel guilty about this, I'm sorry.

**Next Day, Traveling (Day 6 of Journey)**

Tree-covered mountains had replaced the grassy valleys and rolling forested hills of southeast China. The small traveling group was forced to take the number of switchbacks that were cut into the smaller of these mountains, and soon Devil's Pass was in sight, way off in the distance.

Po and Tigress were at the back of the group (aka, as far away from Shifu as possible). They were on a temporary treaty, though they still weren't speaking much.

Tigress was lost in thought, staring off into space as she walked. She wasn't paying much attention to what else was going on (she was just following the crowd) and she tripped over a bump in the road. Before she could fall down, though, Po instinctively caught her. She sucked in a few steadying breaths and stood up. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Yeah, no prob." There was a long, awkward pause, before Po said, "What'cha thinking about?"

Tigress shot him a glare that clearly said, 'Mind your own business.'

Po frowned. "Maybe you hate me right now, but you're upset over something, and if it's not me that means you can say something without hitting me. So what's up?"

Tigress didn't answer for a moment, then said, "I wish I knew they were thinking."

"Huh?"

"Sung didn't want a girl. He wanted a male heir to inherit his wealth and position, but after I was born to his sick wife, he didn't want me and gave me up."

"What's this got to do with 'what they did?'"

"My- I don't know, my mother, I guess, she wasn't sick because of a hard birth or whatever."

"So what was it?"

Tigress didn't look at him. "They bound their souls together."

Po was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm still not getting it."

"The link that forms in the Eye of the Dragon can happen in other ways, as well," Tigress said, her voice toneless. "Seers, witch women, people like that. But if it doesn't work right…"

"If it doesn't work?" he said, his voice jumping a few pitches.

"It kills the one of the two," she said flatly. "If the people bonded aren't really in love, one of them dies."

Po gulped. Suddenly, Tigress sucked in a breath. "What's wrong?'

"My rib. It- It's fine."

"No it's not. When Shifu stops us, you'd better get Mantis to take a look."

"He's no good with wounds that are bigger than he is," she pointed out. "I'll put it back in place later. I tried to last night, but-" she gritted her teeth as a wave of pain came through.

Po watched her, worried. _Come on, Shifu, let us stop._

**Noon, Same Day**

It was only to be a short break, as Shifu wished to continue traveling as soon as possible, but he did allow them to stop for a ten-minute break after a few hours of walking. Tigress nearly fell as soon as she got the okay, but she managed to get to a rock nearby. She clutched at where the rib was still sticking out of her chest.

"Viper, Mantis," Po said, walking over to the tiger master. Tigress' teeth were barred against the pain, and she was almost doubled over, her breath coming in hisses.

"Take off your vest," Viper ordered. Tigress shot her a glare. "What?"

"Not- in front of- them-" she growled.

Viper sighed. "Come on!" she hissed. "Just do it!"

Tigress growled again, then as another sickening wave of pain flooded through her, she quickly unlatched the hooks on her vest.

She was wearing a strip of white linen tied around her chest, which he quickly ripped his eyes from. The rib that was injured was sticking out just beneath it, staining the cloth an ugly scarlet. The white bone, stained slightly brown with dried blood in some place, poked about two inches out of the exit wound. But that wasn't the worst part.

A yellow pus had formed around the edges of the wound, which had swelled to about the size of a bean bun. Po felt his stomach turn at the sight of the wound he himself had made.

"It's infected," Viper said. "You should have had me look at this yesterday, Tigress!"

Tigress growled. "How do you- hsss!- how do you get rid of it?"

"Wash it out," Mantis suggested.

"Do it," she ordered.

There was dead silence. Tigress ignored it for a moment, then looked at the snake and the bug. "What?"

"I'm only four inches long," said Mantis.

"And I haven't got any hands," Viper pointed out. "Po can do it. Right, Po?" she said, turning to the panda.

"Uh…sure, I guess." He took a small water jug out of his pack, and tore some cloth off of his bedroll (basically a blanket). "Hold still, okay?"

He poured some water onto the cloth, then washed out her wound. Tigress let out a hiss of pain and clenched her teeth, but otherwise didn't make a sound.

When it had been totally cleaned out, Viper said, "Okay, now bandage it up."

Tigress' gritted her teeth one more.

Po took ahold of the broken rib and slowly pushed it back into place. Tigress didn't cry out or make a single sound. As he did this, blood started pouring from the wound. He held the cloth to stifle the blood, then took the bandages that Viper flipped over to him with her tail. He took a long, thick strip and tied it around Tigress' chest. "How's that?"

"Tighter," she gasped. "Stop the bleeding."

He tightened it. "There?"

She nodded, and he let go. She breathed as deeply as she could to loosen the bandages, then slowly put her red vest back on.

"It's time to leave," Shifu said, standing up. Everyone else followed his lead. In the chaos, no one noticed the blush that brushed Tigress' cheeks as she recalled the feel of Po's hands on her chest.

**That Night**

The moon was almost full, a fact that Shifu was trying to ignore by keeping his eyes closed. He tried to meditate. "Inner Peace," he muttered, "Inner Peace…"

But peace would not come. With a sigh, he opened his eyes again and looked up at the moon.

"Master, why did you tell me to use the Eye of the Dragon?" he murmured into the sky. "We're worse off now than we were before."

But from the stars he spoke to, no answer came. His master did not give him any 'Heavenly Wisdom' or 'Mystic Guidance,' which was what he had been hoping for.

Well. He was left his intellect then, which even he had to admit was pretty shot at this point. He was way, way far beyond 'stressed' and as for the facts, well, they were just depressing:

Tigress and Po were at odds, and therefore could not complete the Eye of the Dragon sequence, which had been their only hope of survival. The Sequence held phenomenal power, but it wouldn't work unless Tigress and Po fully admitted- and, of course, if they were- in love. Almost every one of them had an injury of some sort, Sung's army was nearing forty thousand, and the old tiger wanted to recruit the furious five and the Dragon Warrior. And, as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he was terrified of losing his adopted daughter to her real father. If he really looked at this, the situation only had one outcome: he was to lose his lose his six students to an old friend-turned-enemy, and then was going to watch as Sung's army marched across China and overtook the Valley of Peace. He would be forced to flee for his life, and his brainwashed students would be marching in the army that he was running from, using the skills he had taught them to conquer China and terrorize the country. Unless…

His ears perked up, as inspiration hit him. He could create a bargain with Sung. He had made the Furious Five and Po who they were today; surely he could do the same to Sung's army. His services were valuable, and he would trade them for his student's freedom. At the same time, he would secretly give them the directions to do what must be done.

He nodded his head grimly and stood up. His life was not so important as theirs, after all, he was older and hadn't so many years left to him as they did. But which of his students to do the deed?  
>The answer came to him almost as quickly as he'd asked it: Tigress. She had known him the longest, he was her adoptive father. She was the strongest of the six, and she deserved the duty of being the one to give him the goodbye. She could handle it the best of all his students; Po, for instance, would have a complete breakdown.<p>

Yes, Tigress. Tigress would be the one to finish this. She would be the one to take his life.

**A/N: I hope this chapter came across as sort of a 'peace treaty,' like Po mentioned. He and Tigress may hate each other will all their might, but they've been through too much together to not talk, and besides, if they try to fight again Shifu will kill them.**


	12. Chapter 12 The Silver Knife

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

**Northeast China, Not far from Devil's Pass (Day 7 of Journey)**

None of the seven warriors said a word as they woke up the next morning. Until now, it had seemed like merely another mission, but with the overcast morning came the grim realization that within a few hour's walk was an army waiting to take them hostage, and there was no way out of it.

Or at least, this is how it was for six of them. For the seventh, the eldest, and the master, it was his final day. Quietly, while his students packed up camp, the asked crane for some calligraphy paper, a quill and ink, and went off on his own.

His note to his best-known student was brief and to the point, but it was a suicide note nonetheless. Writing it was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, save destroying his adoptive son.

When he was finished, he folded the letter into a piece of paper roughly the size of his paw, walked back to the camp, which was now almost fully disassembled, and called Tigress over.

She walked to him and bowed. "Yes, master?"

"Tigress, I have something for you." He pulled out the folded paper and handed it to her. She took it and was about to open it before he stopped her. "Do not open it now. I will tell you when it is time. Understood?"

"Understood, master." She bowed to him, her scarlet eyes leaving his for a moment.

And for a moment, he wasn't her master, and she wasn't his student. For a moment, she was once again a small cub that jumped, overjoyed, into his arms after she had learned her first sequence, and he was the loving father that so rarely showed his true emotions.

And then the moment passed, and he was bowing to her formally, like the master he'd so trained himself to be, to protect her from his former mistakes.

He watched as she walked away, tail swishing back and forth. His only daughter. For an instant, he wondered if he'd made the right choice in (as much as he hated the word) his executioner.

But the choice had been made, and there was no taking it back. He waited for a moment, then steadied his shaking hands and walked forward towards his doom.

**Devil's Pass**

As the small group finally came within a hundred yards of the front line, there was a grim finality about it. Someone in the front ranks hit the war drums as they approached. The seven warriors stopped about fifty yards away from the army, which was so huge it looked like a full ocean of faces. The army spanned the whole pass, every one of them at attention.

Each of the seven had different thoughts on their mind:

Tigress' strategic brain immediately sized up the odds. Forty thousand heavily trained warriors against the seven of them, one of which had been training for no more than six months. Brave she may have been, but stupid she was not. They were dead meat.

Po's thoughts ran a basic line: _Ohmygods we're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna-_

Crane was seriously wishing he'd busted his wing sooner, so that Shifu had let him stay home.

Viper was looking at Crane and regretting that she hadn't fessed up about her 'secret' crush when she'd had the chance.

Mantis (who was sitting on Tigress' shoulder) was thinking that that army was soooooooooooooooo big and he was only about four inches long.

Monkey was thinking about bananas and wondering, should he have had some, how many of these warrior dudes would slip and fall before they realized what was happening.

Shifu's mind was set to the grim determination of a man walking to his gallows.

Suddenly, one of the front leaders strode forward. Shifu's face tightened with recognition. "Sung."

"Old friend," Sung said. He looked to be a tiger of about forty years or so. He mock-bowed to Shifu, who did not bow back.

"I asked you," Sung said, turning around to look at his army, "to bring me the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior."

"I have done so-" Shifu said, but was cut off.

"You have not. What you have brought me is a motely group of low-lives. A fangless snake," he said, turning once again to look at the group, his gaze falling condescendingly on Viper, "a skinny bird, some lemur, and a bug. Though I must admit," he said, taking a step towards Tigress, "you haven't done half bad with my daughter." At the words 'my daughter,' Shifu jerked involuntarily. "Then again, she was of my blood." He raised one claw and trailed it along Tigress' cheek.

The family resemblance was obvious. The face shape, the eye shape, everything was the same. The only difference was while Tigress' eyes were scarlet, Master Sung's were a sickly yellow. One had a scar running down across it.

Tigress didn't so much as flinch when his claws touched her, but the way her body tensed told everyone that she didn't like it.

"Stop," Shifu said sharply.

Sung looked at him, surprised for a moment, before a slow smile spread across his face. "Of course," he answered smoothly, and withdrew his claws. Tigress immediately relaxed.

"Shifu," Sung said, pacing. "You have one thing left to show me. Where is the Dragon Warrior?"

"He's right here," Po said, stepping forward

This time, Sung did not bother to hide his surprise. "You? I thought you were just the servant or such. You're a panda. You cannot possibly be the Dragon Warrior."

"Yeah, well, you're not the first to think so." There was a slightly guilty silence from Shifu and the Five as he said this.

"I'd heard rumors of the Dragon Warrior being a panda, but I've never believed it," Sung said, staring at him with still yet a hint of doubt.

"If you don't believe me, I can show you some awesomeness!" Po raised his hands into fighting stance.

"_Po_," Tigress said in warning. Then, in a lower voice, "Don't let him bait you into a fight."

"Hmm. Very clever, my daughter," Sung said, this time actually making Tigress flinch slightly. "Very clever indeed." He smirked, and then turned again to his army. "You see why I do not believe my old friend. I mean to say, he claims that a _panda_ is the Dragon Warrior! And I suppose my daughter is the Lotus Tiger, then?" he added mockingly, looking back at Shifu.

The red panda didn't answer.

Sung's eyes went wide, then tighter with mirth. "The stories you tell, old man. I've heard more realistic tales from fishermen!" He started to laugh, and his whole army joined in, creating a roaring like the sound of a hurricane. In the next moment, he silenced them all with a mere flick of his paw. "Well, Shifu, if this is the best you have to offer, then I suppose I must take what comes." He started to turn away.

"Wait," Shifu said. Every eye turned to his, and it was so quiet that you couldn't even heart the sound of forty thousand men breath; everyone was holding his breath.

"Wait," Shifu repeated. "I have…a proposal for you."

Sung turned, his eyes glinting viciously. "Yes?"

"I made the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior what they are now," Shifu said, drawing himself up to his full height and attempting to play the part of a strong master. "I can do the same for your army."

"Continue," the tiger said.

"If you let them go, I will train your men. You will have the most powerful army in the world." Shifu closed his eyes. "Just let my students go."

"Master Shifu-" Po started, but Sung stopped him. The tiger appeared to think about it for a moment, his lips curling into a crafty smile. "I accept," he said, his white fangs glinting. He turned back to his army. "Men," he called, his voice echoing through the pass. People in the front ranks began shouting his words back, and so the message carried. "We have a change in plans. Allow these six," he pointed to the Five and Po, "to pass by unharmed." He turned back to the six students. "You may leave."

"Master!" Tigress said, realizing that two boars had taken Shifu by the arms. "You can't do this!"

"Tigress, I-"

"No!" she snarled, running forward and knocking the two asides. She dropped to her knees in front of her master. "What are you doing?" she growled as she took him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "You can't-"

Before she could finish, Shifu reached forward and pulled her into an embrace. "My daughter," he whispered. Then, even softer (so that not even Sung could hear), "The letter is for this purpose. I'll give you a signal."

Tigress nodded, still stunned, then pulled away and stood up. Holding her breath and blinking her tears back, she held her outer appearance strong and turned away with the others.

The left the way they'd come walking up the switchbacks in one of the sides of the mountains. Tigress watched Shifu as they walked, waiting for the signal.

Sung appeared to be harassing the red panda. The others were badgering her with questions, but she didn't pain attention to that. Suddenly, Shifu looked up at her and gave just the slightest nod.

She took the note out of her vest and unfolded it. The others didn't notice her stop for a moment, before Po said, "Tigress? What's up?"

The tiger master was breathing fast, her claws tearing the paper as she clenched it tightly. She read and reread the note, hoping that somehow she'd misunderstood.

Tigress, if my plan has gone as I wished, then you are about to escape and I am in the custody of Master Sung, promising to instruct his army in the ancient arts. You of all people should know that this can't be allowed to happen.

I have chosen you to do this task because you are the strongest of my students, and also the only one able to throw a knife far enough to hit me. I need you to strike me directly in the heart; the wound MUST be fatal.

I am sorry to lay this burden on you, my daughter. Please forgive me.

Tigress stared at it, her mouth hanging open and her paws shaking. Slowly, she reached up and took one small knife out of her vest. She looked at the small piece of silver, sitting so innocently in her paw. _No. No._

Shifu waited for the pain to come, pretending that everything was normal. While he appeared to listen to Sung's taunts, his mind was busy playing gruesome images of his heart pinned to the ground by a knife, a hole through his chest wide enough to look through-

But, strangely enough, his heart was still firmly in his chest. He glanced up at Tigress; what was taking her so long?

Tigress was shaking, literally. The knife in her hand was slicing her paws, tiny drops of blood seeping along the cuts.

Kill…him? Kill him? She couldn't. Wouldn't.

But she had to. If Shifu was taken alive, then he would be forced to teach Sung's army the greatest secrets of Kung Fu.

It was her duty.

But- her adoptive father? Her master?

Tigress looked down at Shifu as he waited for the blow. For an instant, he glanced up. He met her gaze.

Tigress made her decision. Sending a quick prayer to the gods, she relinquished her grip on the silver and threw the knife.


	13. Chapter 13 Shán Cún Jail

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: I got the translation from

**Devil's Pass, Noon, Day 7**

The silver hissed through the air, and it was only his countless yeas of training saved Master Sung from Tigress' strike.

His hand closed around the blade mid-air, slicing his paw. He opened it and looked at the silver and the thin laceration on the toughened skin.

Shifu could've kicked himself. Of course, strategic, plan-making Tigress would have found the option he had hoped she would overlook, because that was just the way she was.

But the attack on Sung had not been fatal, just as he'd known it wouldn't be. Master Sung had many more years of experience than Tigress, who could catch a flaming arrow in midair; of course he wouldn't have been hit!

Sung turned and looked up at the group on the ridge. He smiled smugly and made a small motion with his hand. The message was obvious: _Go on. Try and run._

So they did.

"GO! GO!" Tigress shouted. All six of them started to run/slither/fly up the path as fast as they could, but someone hit a war drum. A legion of boars and wolves from the side ranks blocked them and began to fight. They were easily dispatched, but another group replaced them.

There was only one outcome. Six warriors, no matter how highly trained, could not defend themselves against forty thousand battle-trained men. A volley of arrows brought down Crane, nearly killing him. Monkey was next, knocked out by three boars that leapt onto him at the same time. One by one, each of them fell, the last being Tigress.

"Mutiny, eh?" Sung said, seeming unconcerned. "Betrayal. I never would have thought it of you, Shifu."

Shifu's head was bowed.

"I cannot allow mutiny," Sung continued. "I'm afraid I will have to deal with you. Oh, don't worry," he assured the red panda. "I won't kill you. I still need you to train my army. But you will have to be punished."

Still Shifu did not speak.

Sung resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said, "Take them to the compound in Shán Cún. **(A/N: the accents should actually be dashes over the letters. The name means 'Mountain Village')** I don't want them escaping."

"Uh- what do we do with them, master?" one of the boars asked.

"Really, must I tell you everything? Hold them there until I decide where I'm going to kill them or enlist them," Sung said.

Shifu started to struggle against the men holding him. "Don't!" he bellowed. "Don't kill them- I- I'll-"

"You'll what?" Sung said. "Really, do tell me. I want to hear this."

It was a good point. He couldn't exactly move.

Sung laughed and said, "Take him away. Put him with the others." He was about to leave when he stopped. "Actually, put the Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Dragon apart from them, in the strongest cell you have. Chains, muscle sedatives, the whole nine meters."

"Yes, Master," the two men rumbled. They picked Shifu up, then went to relay the orders to the ones holding the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior.

Sung nodded, then went back to the army. "AT REST!" he yelled, then gave the drums the signal to pound the orders out.

The threat having been taken care of, the entire army began to set up camp once again. Sung watched with satisfaction.

He was obeyed here. He was important, even more so than the emperor. And now, he had taken care of any resistance to him. He was the most powerful man in all of China.

**Shán Cún Jail, (approx. 8:00 p.m.)**

Viper's eyes fluttered open, and she moaned, stirring on the hard stone floor.

Her numerous wounds ached as she stared up at the low stone ceiling, which was painted an orange-bronze in the torchlight.

As she glanced around, she saw that she was not the first to awaken. Crane was sitting in the corner, trying not to moan too loudly. Ruby blood stained his white and blue wings, spotting them crimson. His eyes were closed as he bore the brunt of the pain in silence, though occasionally a whimper did escape his beak.

She slithered over to him, rearing up to his height. "Crane?" she said quietly.

He opened his eyes. "Oh- Viper, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"No, you- Crane!" she said, as he closed his eyes again and tried not to cry out. "Let me help you," she said, slithering forward. Tentatively, she put her mouth onto his wing.

"What are you-"

"Shh," she said through a mouthful of feathers. Slowly, she coaxed the venom from the small holes where her fangs should have been and let it settle onto the wound. Not enough to kill him, of course; it was just enough to make his entire wing go numb. After that was over, she licked the wounds clean with her forked tongue. Crane shuddered slightly.

"What? Am I hurting you?" she asked worriedly.

"No," he said. "It's- it's fine."

She finished cleaning his wounds, and then said, "The venom will wear off in a little while, but you won't be able to do anything with it until then. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's great just like this. You know," he flapped his wings a little, "not being able to feel anything?"

She giggled. "Okay." She ducked her head, not meeting his eyes. "You know, I never got to thank for protecting me in that storm."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing." Crane shifted, slightly embarrassed.

"No, it wasn't," she said seriously. She rose up and looked at him, her emerald eyes slightly hypnotizing. "You saved me when I couldn't save myself."

"Yeah, well…" he shuffled.

Suddenly, Viper was coiling her way around him, hissing slightly. As she circled around and her face was right in front of his, she smiled sweetly, though her eyes were a lot less innocent. Crane felt his heart speed up.

On the other side of the room, somebody stirred, and immediately both of them jerked apart.

Shifu sat up and put a hand to his head, as if that would help his huge headache. "I see you two are awake." He glanced at Crane's wing. "And Viper has taken care of the arrow wounds."

"Uh- yes, Master," Crane said, bobbing his head.

"Good, good." Shifu nodded. "Tigress and Po?"

"We don't know," Viper said. "They aren't here."

Shifu sighed. "I figured as much. Sung wouldn't have them with the rest of us, he'd have them in the strongest cell he had."

Monkey moaned in the corner, than sat up. "Oooh…ow, that hurts. Where are we?" He reached over and woke up Mantis.

"Jail cell," Crane supplied. "Shán Cún."

"Oh, yeah. Remind me to murder Tigress when I see her, pulling a stunt like."

"It's not her fault," Shifu said sharply.

Monkey snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"It isn't. I told her to do what she did- well, not that exactly." He sighed and looked but at his students. "I gave Tigress orders to kill me."

There was a collective gasp throughout the cell. "Master-!"

"It was necessary," their teacher said harshly. "You know that the secrets that we have developed should not be traded to those who would only use them for destruction. But Tigress did not complete the task I asked her to do. Instead, she went for Master Sung." He shook his head. "I hope she and Po are all right."

**Shán Cún Jail, Strongest Cell, One hour later (approx. 8:30 p.m.)**

Tigress awoke to the sound of rattling chains. A dozen cuts and bruises (and by bruises, she meant grapefruit-size, mottled marks on her elbows and shoulders) throbbed on her body, and she had the worst headache she'd ever felt. The worst part? She'd been stuck so full of sedatives, she could tell that her arms and legs had only half their usual strength.

The rattling sound she'd heard was coming from Po who had been shackled to the wall, as had she. He was rolling and moaning in his sleep, and Tigress distinctively caught the words "Dream," "Dad," and "No noodles."

She crawled over to him, trying to ignore the pain in her, well, everything, and shook him awake. "Po. Po,_ wake up_."

He yelped and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Who- wha-"

"Po, it's me," she said.

"Oh- OH! Master Tigress!" he said, and immediately let go of her. He to brushed her vest off. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She sat up. "Where are we?"

"I dunno." He looked around. "Some sort of jail cell, I think."

Tigress closed her mind, analyzing all the facts. "We're in the Shán Cún- that's a big town near Devil's Pass- jail." She slammed her fist against the stone wall, and nodded when it didn't even chip. "The top security cell, too."

"Oookay," Po said. "Anything else?"

"Yes. They stuck us so full of sedatives that I'm only half as strong as usual. Probably you, too," she said, looking him over.

There was a loud grumbling sound, and she shot the panda a look.

"What? I'm hungry."  
>"I think you can go a few hours without food," she said, studying him. "Actually, probably a few weeks."<p>

"Yeah, well…tell me if you see any 'universe juice,' I'm sill hungry."

Tigress rolled her eyes. "They won't feed us. They will want us to suffer, make us easier to break."

Po gulped.

"Show no signs of weakness unless it benefits us," Tigress instructed. She closed her eyes and tried to meditate.

There were a few moments of blessed silence, before Po's stomach rumbled again. "Shh," he whispered to it.

Tigress half sighed, half growled and opened her eyes. Meditation wasn't going to happen right now.

"Hey, uh, Tigress?" Po said, after a few minutes.

"What?"

"I'm really sorry. You know, about the whole 'telling everybody Sung's your dad' thing." He winced apologetically. "I thought everyone already knew."

She was silent for a moment, then said, "I know. It was my fault; I didn't exactly tell you not to."

"Yeah, but I should've known it was a secret or something." He looked kind of guilty, which just made Tigress feel guilty, too- or guiltier than she already had been, anyway.

She focused her vision on the flickering torchlight. "I should apologize to you, as well."

"Huh? Why-"  
>"I acted like a coward," she spat. "I treated you like dirt because I was afraid, and that was a weakling's way out."<p>

"Uh…okay."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Tigress knew what was coming.

"So…why'd you do it?"  
>She growled and didn't answer.<p>

"Tigress?"

Still no answer.

"Tigre-"

"I can't loose you again!" she finally roared, snapping.

The room went dead. Silent.

"What are you talking about?" he said finally, absolutely not getting it.

"I can't got through that again, Po," she said. "When you were hit with that cannon, and we all thought you were dead- I was so scared. I can't take that again."

"But what's this got to with what you said?" When she didn't answer, Po suddenly shifted to the side and took her by the shoulder. "Tigress, come on. You're freaking me out here."

"Do you remember what I told you about the Eye of the Dragon? How if the people aren't really in love, one of them dies?"  
>Po nodded.<p>

"I didn't tell you everything. It's not just either one, it's the one that wasn't loved." She didn't look at him, but rather continued to fixate on the flame.

"I'm still confused."

"Don't you get it?" she hissed, the words she had to say sharp and bitter in her mouth. "I- I-" She sighed, frustrated, and put her forehead in her paw. "Whatever this is I've got for you- and I'm not saying that it exists- I've never felt it before. I don't know if it's friendship or- Anyway, if I'm wrong, and it's not what I think it is, and we bind our souls with the Eye of the Dragon ceremony, you'll die." She shook her head. "I can't take that, alright? I thought if I was as cruel as possible to you, I'd break the connection and you wouldn't be in any danger."

"Well, other than being brainwashed and forced into an evil army," Po supplied.

She laughed bitterly. "Yes. Other than that." She smiled a little, and that was when Po pulled her into a bear hug.

"Mph- Po, I can't breath," she grumbled after a minute.

"Oh! Uh, sorry." He let go. "Look, let's agree on something, okay? Next time you want to save my butt by being a jerk, tell me that first."

She nodded, then reminded him of his own fault. "And next time you hear some deep dark secret, check with me before assuming everyone else already knows. Deal?"

"Deal."

There was another long silence, though not an uncomfortable one, before there was a loud rumbling and clicking, and the cast-iron door opened to reveal the most unexpected visitor the two could have seen.

Master Sung walked through the door, the torchlight seeming to glint off his orange fur. He walked forward and stood in front of the two captives.

"I'm still not quite believing it," he said, looking at them with his hands held professionally behind his back.

Po gave him something of an agreeing nod. "I know what you mean. 'Panda' and 'Dragon Warrior' don't exactly match."

"Well, that is part of it," Sung said quietly. "But quite honestly, what I'm wondering is how someone of my blood could fall in love with such a lowlife as you."

Tigress and Po just stated for a moment, before Tigress said, in a voice now louder than the wind blowing through the trees, "If you speak of the Dragon Warrior as such scum, then obviously _you_ are no one of importance."

Sung snarled. "No one of importance?"

"None at all," the younger tiger agreed.

"You dare speak to me that way?"

"I didn't stutter, now did I?"

Po's mouth was literally hanging open. You just had to admire Tigress' courage; she was chained up and powerless, and was casually insulting this humongous tiger to his face.

Sung's face twitched into a smile. "No, I suppose not. But then, courage does run through your veins."  
>"It must have been through my mother's side."<p>

Ouch.

"You doubt my bravery? My cunning?"

Tigress gave him a doubtful look. "No man of upstanding honor chains his adversaries, then comes to taunt them in their weakened state. That is the path of a fool and a coward."

"Well, I see where we are indeed different," Sung said, sneering. "Who said anything about your so-called honor?"

"A warrior does not exist without his honor," Tigress replied. "Kung Fu is about discipline and control of one's strength, and about fighting where the outcome _isn't_ certain. Cheating to win the game isn't courage, it's cowardice."

"You poor child," Sung said patronizingly. Tigress stiffened; she was twenty-four, and hadn't been called a child in a long while. "You believe this all to be a game?"

"Uh, no, she doesn't," Po interjected. "Believe me, she's given me the whole 'this isn't some game' lecture a few times over."

"Shut up, Panda," Sung spat.

"Good luck with that," Tigress said, rolling her eyes. When both men looked at her, confused, she sighed and said, "I've been trying to get him to shut up for the last year. It's not going to happen, believe me."

"I expected more from you, Master Tigress," Sung said, turning his attention back to her. "When I heard of your prestigious skill, I assumed you would become the Dragon Warrior."

"You assumed wrong," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Apparently so. The Lotus Tiger? I would have thought you'd have more dignity than to accept such a title."

Tigress drew herself up to her full height, pushing herself off the ground and standing up despite the heavy chains. "I am honored," she said, looking him straight in the eye, "to have such a title. It is a position of the _greatest _dignity, as a matter of fact, to be part of the Eye of the Dragon, and I could ask for no better comrade." She glanced over at Po. "I am truly blessed to have such a friend as he, and it is an honor to know him. Without him, I doubt that I would be here today, and I know that I would not survive long without him by my side."

Po was surprised, to say the least. Just a few days ago, Tigress had insulted him and totally dissed his butt off. Now she was saying that she thought she couldn't survive without him. Talk about a change of heart.

Sung's face hardened. "Then you are a fool," he hissed, and before Tigress could retaliate, he leapt forward and stabbed his claws into her side.


	14. Chapter 14 Escape

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

**Shán Cún Jail, Strongest Cell, One hour later (approx. 8:30 p.m.)**

The expression on Tigress' face froze for a moment, as she fell first to her knees, then to the floor of the cell. She clutched at her side as blood continued to pour out of it, seeping through her fingers and falling to the ground like a red rain.

Both men stared at her, Sung with a sneer on his face, Po with a look of disbelief.

"So weak," Sung spat. "I had expected more bravery, more talent. It appears that I was wrong. I will tell your master of your passing." He turned on his heels and left.

Tigress gasped for air as she pressed the wound, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding. "Hahh- hahh-"

"Master Tigress!" Po crawled over to her. "Master Tigress-"

"Shut up!" she shouted, purely out of pain. "Oh- Oh gods-"

"What do I do?"

"Bandage," she gasped. "Something- stop bleeding-"

"Right. Bandage. Gotcha." He desperately looked around for anything that could be of use while Tigress tried to keep her guts _inside_ her body.

"Po?" Tigress managed, her voice coming in pants.

"Hold on." He started to search through his pockets. After a moment, he pulled out a tiny, folded-up square of cloth, like a napkin, and some chopsticks.

"Not- the time-"

"It's not for eating." He unfolded the cloth to reveal that it was actually a bandage. "Shifu made me carry it. He says I get injured to much not to have it."

"Stop- talking- and-"

"Right. Hold still." He tried to get Tigress' fingers off from the wound, but she didn't move. "Tigress, come on!"

"Don't you yell at me!"

"Just do it!"

She slowly forced herself to uncurl her fingers. Po immediately wrapped the bandage around her body once, twice, three times, tying it tight to stop the gushing blood. The scarlet liquid soaked through the first layer, and then the second, but not the third.

Once this was done, he took out the chopsticks. Tigress didn't even have the energy to ask what he was doing, but within moments, Po had somehow picked the lock on their chains. "Come on, Tigress-"

That was when he noticed: Tigress was lying on the ground, and she wasn't moving.

"Oh no, oh no," Po said. "Master Tigress, please don't be dead-"

No, her chest was moving. She wasn't dead, she'd just passed out from pain and blood loss.

So. He was on his own then. Picking Tigress up with a grunt (she was pretty heavy), he went over and looked at the door. It only took a moment for him to figure out that it was locked with the same kind of lock as the chain.

"Who says chopsticks are only good for eating?"

**Shán Cún Jail, Shifu/Five's cell, (approx. 9:00 p.m.)**

As the door opened behind him, Shifu said without even looking, "Have you finally come to taunt us, Master Sung? You're later than I expected."

"But of course, old friend," said Sung. "Actually, that is not correct; I come to inform you of a death."

Everyone was immediately on their feet at the word death, their various chains rattling and clinking. "Death?" Shifu said urgently. "Whose?"

"Why, Master Tigress', of course."

There was a stunned silence in the cell as everyone tried to process this. Shifu's face was halfway between disbelief and sorrow.

"How?" he whispered.

"Well, you know how the saying goes. 'Insolence killed the cat.'" He examined his claws, something of an unspoken warning to those who dared correct him. "The kitty didn't keep her mouth shut, so I was forced to use extreme measures. It was a shame, really," he said, obviously unconcerned. "She had potential."

"Your own daughter?" Viper hissed.

"Hm, yes, I suppose that's correct," Sung said. "Now, I'll leave you to your moping and wailing." He turned around and walked back out as if he had been just informing them of the weather.

Everyone stood there for a moment, before Viper started crying quietly. Crane extended a comforting wing around her.

Shifu stood there, staring blindly at the place where Sung had been standing. His mind had gone numb, filled with one fact: his daughter was dead.

It wasn't supposed to be this way! He was supposed to be dead, she was supposed to be free- how was it that she ad died before him?

He sank to his knees and hands, unable to stand. _No…Tigress, I- I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for never being a father to you, for not protecting you…Forgive me._

**Streets of Shán Cún (Approx. 9:30 p.m.), Outside the Jail**

Po hid behind the wall, holding Tigress in his arms while also trying not to be seen. Not an easy task.

"Okay. Plan: 'Bust out Master Shifu and the others and show Sung the true meaning of awesomeness,' begins!"

Tigress mumbled slightly, and clamped a paw over her mouth. He guessed that she was either dreaming, or telling him to shut up and get on with the rescue mission. He preferred to think it was the first.

He tiptoed (yeah, right) over to the guards by the door and tapped one of the shoulder. When he looked over, Po punched him right in the face. Guard #1 hit Guard #2 as he flew back, and they were both unconscious before they hit the ground.

The armor was a nice touch, really; no one noticed Po when he walked down the halls, carrying a thick bundle wrapped in old uniforms. After all, he was just one more guard doing his duty.

"Hey, watch where you're going !" one of them, a boar, grunted to the disguised panda when he accidentally knocked into him.

"Huh? Oh- uh, same to you!" Was that the kind of response a jailer would give? As they walked past each other, Po suddenly said, "Where are those new prisoners Master Sung told us about?"

"Why do you care?" the guard said suspiciously.

"Uh, just that I don't think they're so tough. You know, just a bunch of stories."

The other guard laughed. "Yeah, I know, right? Sung's just an old geezer, what would he know about scary?"

Po shrugged inside the armor. "I don't know. But I bet some of the other guys I'd go up and touch the door."

"Easy money," the guard grunted.

"Yeah. Problem is, I don't know which way it is."

The boar snorted. "If you're looking for the master and some of the Five, It's the last cell on the left down that hallway." He pointed. "If you want that Dragon Warrior guy and Master Tigress, they're on the top cell of the building.

"Yeah, I know," Po muttered under his breath, remembering the dozens of stairs he had to go down. "Later, man."

"Whatever."

Po walked down the hallway, tensing every time he passed another guard. No one paid him any attention. When he reached the last door, he took out his chopsticks again and picked the lock.

The iron door swung open. "All right, fellas, I'm bustin' you outta here!"

The others all looked up. "Who're you?" Monkey said, annoyed.

Po lifted up his helmet.

"Po!" everyone (or almost everyone) said in unison, gaping.

"But how did you-" Crane started.

"Later. We have to get out of here." He pulled out the chopsticks and picked everyone's locks, to the amazement of the other four.

The fifth, Master Shifu, just remained staring at the wall.

"Uh- what's up with him?" Po asked. "Hello, Master Shifu?"

"He's been like that ever since Sung told us about Tigress," Viper said quietly, looking like she was about to cry.

"Wha- oh yeah! You guys still think Tigress is dead!"

At his words, Shifu turned around. "What are you-" the red panda said softly, but Po held up his paw.

"Shh. I don't want her to wake up; she's in a lot of pain." He peeled back the top of the old uniform, revealing Tigress' pained face. Her breathing was fast and labored, but there nonetheless.

Shifu half-crawled, half-stumbled over to the two, barely daring to believe that somehow his adoptive daughter was still alive. He brushed one thin paw across her fur, and nearly collapsed again when he realized that she was real.

"But- how-" he whispered hoarsely.

"It's not a sure thing, she's hurt pretty bad, but those bandages you made me take actually came in handy. We have to get her to safety."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Crane said, flapping his wings. "Let's go!"

**Shán Cún (Approx. 9:45 p.m.)**

Seven figures hid in the alleyway behind the jail, breathing as softly as possible.

"The guard shift changes right...about…now," Shifu whispered. As he said the last word, a drum hit three loud booms, and all the guards immediately left their post.

"We have thirty seconds," Shifu said. "Go! Now!"

The six of them ran out from behind the shadows, just as the new set of guards started to file out and take their places. As (bad) luck would have it, one of the rhinos/boars/wolves saw them, and decided to tell the whole city.

"ESCAPEES!" he roared. "ESCAPEES!"

"ALL TO YOUR STATIONS! CODE SEVEN-FOUR-SEVEN! I REPEAT, CODE SEVEN-FOUR-SEVEN!" another shouted.

Instantly, every guard within the jail responded, running out the doors.

"GO! GO!" Shifu yelled to his students.

The five of them responded, Po still carrying Master Tigress, this time without any armor.

"I really should have left the armor on!" he yelled.

"Just run!" Viper said, flying through the air like some sort of green whip. Crane swooped down and picked her up, then arched high into the air.

The guards were just behind, volleys of arrows narrowly missing the seven warriors.

"To the roofs!" Shifu shouted to his students. Within moments, he'd flipped himself into the air, landing on the nearest rooftop. Monkey and Mantis followed his lead.

"Rooftops, rooftops," Po muttered, looking around. Ahead of him, he saw a cart that was tilted with it's back end up and pointing to a low roof nearby. "Oh yeah!"

He raced for the cart, zig-zagging to avoid the arrows.

Suddenly, the wood of the cart was underneath him, and then once again not, as he jumped onto the roof.

The roof titles skittered underneath him as he ran, jumping building to building. "Whoa-oa-oa-!"

He jumped to the next building, running along the spirit-path* and trying not to fall off.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his chest. He nearly missed the next jump in surprise. "Master Tigress!"

"Run faster!" the now-awake tiger yelled, still clutching at him with her claws.

"Gotcha!"

The rooftops climbed from one story to two, and from two stories to three as they reached the wealthier parts of the town.

"Duck!" Tigress yelled.

Po dipped down as an arrow flashed over his head. If this kept up, they'd be shot through before he'd gone another three streets.

So Tigress did the first thing she thought of. While Po was running/holding her, she grabbed one of his chopsticks out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" he yelled.

"Quiet!" She focused and tried to aim.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I've only got one shot at this!" She closed one eye and readied herself for the throw.

Po suddenly skittered to a stop, making her nearly drop the chopstick.

"Why are you stopping?"

"I can't jump this!" A big street- the town's main road- separated the next house/store and the one he was standing on. A number of clotheslines and banners crisscrossed the air between the two houses, but no magical wooden bridge appeared.

"Po, whatever you're going to do, hurry!" Tigress shouted.

The panda desperately looked for an option, anything that could work. The guards were gaining on him, and the others were pulling farther and farther away, having crossed on the ropes they were light enough to balance on. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

"I just had a really crazy idea-"

"DO IT!"

He hesitated a moment, then took a few steps back, ran, and jumped.

"This was your brilliant idea-a-a-ahhhhh!" Tigress shouted, as Po grabbed hold of the banners.

Their side tore free of the hooks on the building, swinging the screaming duo forward with the momentum. As they swung down, Po had to wonder if it was the best idea, seeing as the bottom of the arc would be them smacking into the wall.

WHAMMMM!  
>Tigress let out a half-furious, half-angry roar of pain. "PO!"<p>

"Not my best idea."  
>"You- oh gods!- you think?"<p>

The guards had reached the roof of the house they had just left. There was a moment's conversation, before one pulled out his bow. He laughed at the dangling duo, then shot.

He'd just barely missed, the arrow catching the banner and tearing it even more.

"ACK!"

Po had, ironically, dropped Tigress after the arrow fired. It was only by sheer luck that he caught her again, this time by the paw.

"You dropped me!" Tigress yelled, furious.

"Sorry!"

They struggled to get back up onto the roof, Po clutching at the banner and Tigress clutching at Po.

The rhino laughed again and loaded another arrow. This time, he wouldn't miss.

Tigress glanced around, trying not to scream from the pain in her side and desperate to find some way to survive.

Suddenly, it came to her: she was still holding the chopstick.

"HOLD STILL!" she yelled at Po.

"What?"

She didn't have time to answer, because the rhino had shot the second arrow.

In the breath of an instant, time seemed to slow down for her, sounds and colors blurring into one. She aimed the chopstick and fired.

It hit the arrow mid-air, splitting the projectile in half. At the same time, she snatched the head end of the arrow out of the air. Within the next second, she'd thrown the arrow into the air, snagging Po's pants and dragging them both onto the roof.

As the world around her went dark, she felt Po pick her up again.

The panda scooped up the tiger master, who was quickly losing consciousness, and started to run once again along the rooftops. As he reached the edge of the city, he jumped off the last roof, Crane catching him and helping him and the passed-out Tigress to the ground. Within moments, they had fled into the shadows of the trees, leaving behind the shouting guards and running, running for all they were worth.

***Spirit Path- On top of some Chinese houses, 'paths' are built to give the evil spirit a place to go without entering the house, as spirits can only travel in straight lines.**


	15. Chapter 15 Rain

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: BessiSchumi- Whoa, really? I didn't know about the mirror thing. That's soooooo cool! Mr. Awesome Guy- Yep, that's the angle I was looking for. I figured that there had to be at least one time in this that Po carried her to safety *grins*. Rigadoon and carmonator- I'm so happy you caught that! I was going for the impossible, just to make it more movie-like. Did I succeed?

**Forest near Devil's Pass, By a cliff, Just after dawn, (Day 8)**

Tigress' eyes fluttered open again, her scarlet irises seeming to glow in the gloomy twilight. The darted back and forth as she looked around, trying to find out where she was.

She froze as she saw the big, hulking figure near her feet. So they hadn't escaped; someone had caught them and was standing guard beside her.

She only had one chance at this. Moving slowly, she pulled herself into a crouch. Just as she was about to pounce, the figure said, "Don't do that, Tigress; you'll tear the stitches."

Tigress nearly passed out again in relief. "Po?"

"Who else would it be?" The panda shifted and brought himself close enough for her to see.

"I don't know; I thought maybe we hadn't made it out." That was when part of what he'd said earlier registered. "Stitches?"

"Yeah, Mantis put about two dozen of them in your side. That little guy is really good with a needle…"

Tigress lifted up her vest and saw the not-so-gaping wound in her side, neatly sewed up with strong black thread. Quickly, she checked how far she could move with it in her side, and found that if she stretched too far one way or the other, she'd feel a tension on the wound, but otherwise she had a full range of motion.

"Shifu says you shouldn't move much for a few hours," Po commented.

"A few hours?"

"He knew you weren't going to sit in one place for three days, especially when you want revenge." He gave her a teasing grin, but Tigress didn't return it.

She didn't want revenge. Not really. Tigress felt…cold. Cold and dead, like something that had been sitting in a storage cupboard for twenty years and had only just been noticed again.

"How long have I been out?" she said tonelessly.

"About nine hours," he answered. "It's after dawn, but it's really cloudy so you can't tell."

She didn't respond, but rather stood up. Po didn't bother protesting; he knew she wasn't going to stay sitting for five minutes anyway.

She walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the edge. The air smelled of rain, which was accented by the fact that within a minute or so, it began to drizzle.

She stared out at the valley, which was covered with layers of gray thunderclouds. She watched as lighting brewed in the clouds overhead, flashing white. The thunder, rolling across the sky like a war drum, followed the lightning.

As the rain grew heavier, she crossed her arms against the cold and shivered involuntarily. The bitter wind blew against her, ruffling her fur and sending a chill down her back.

"So…you ready?" Po said, walking up beside her.

"For what?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is we're going to end up doing to save China."

It didn't even take her a second to think. "Yes."

He looked at her doubtfully. "That's it? 'Yes?'"

She growled in the back of her throat. "I've got a broken rib, two-dozen stitches in my side, and last night I held my own stomach. Yes, I'm ready."

"Would it kill you to say something real for once?" he said.

"What would you have me say?" she retorted.

"I don't know. Something that shows you're alive? That you're not a rock?"

"I can't and I won't," Tigress shot back.

"What? why?"

Tigress closed her eyes as she searched for a way to explain. "It is the duty of the strong to support the weak. It is our job to be there and give them our strength, because we were blessed with the gifts we were given. We cannot show pain or fear or say we are too tired to carry on, because we owe it to others to be strong even if we don't want to."

"But what about when you're not strong?" Po protested. "What about when _you're _the weak one? Who's there for you?"

Tigress felt her throat tighten painfully, and she knew she was about to cry. She looked away and didn't answer.

"Tigress?"

"No one," she said, her voice cracking. "No one, all right?"

He didn't say anything.

"It's always been that way. I can deal with my problems by myself. I don't need anyone else to help me." Her tone was strong, but it broke at the end, right on the word 'anyone.'

She realized that she really was crying now, the salty tears mixing with the rain and dripping off the orange and black fur on her face. She mentally berated herself. She was Master Tigress, the hard-core Kung Fu master, protector of the Valley of Peace; she was not supposed to cry.

Suddenly, two warm arms wrapped around her, covering her almost entirely. She turned inside the panda's embrace so that she was facing him and hugged him back, the tears spilling down her face and onto the soft black and white fur.

"You're not alone, okay?" Po said. "And you don't always have to be so hard-core."

She nodded into his shoulder. "Yes. I- I know."

"We're all here for you, all right?" he said, drawing away. "All of us. Me, the others, Master Shifu…"

"Thank you, Po," she said quietly. They stood there for a moment, the rain pouring down as if the gods themselves were crying and drenching the two warriors. Then, so suddenly he almost didn't realize it had happened, Tigress leaned up and pressed her lips gently to his. The contact lasted barely an instant, before she turned and walked away.

Po just stood there, staring at the spot where she had been. After a few moments, he took a few stumbling steps forward and in that stunned, stupefied way, made his way back to camp.

**A/N: Er, well…Okay, yeah, short chapter. I mean, reeeally short. Sorry!**


	16. Chapter 16 Buying Time

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: I got the information of China's population in the 1500s from .com/Q/What_was_the_population_for_China_in_1500_A.D. .

Eatingadonut: Too Long Don't Remember? Totally Lucky Dogs Rock? Tap-dances Love Dan Rather? What does TLDR stand for?

**Forest near Devil's Pass, (Day 8)**

Tigress and the others waited a distance away from their master while waiting for him to come up with some brilliant plan that would get them all out of this mess.

Po and Tigress didn't look at or speak with each other while they were waiting. If they had, they wouldn't have known what to say. In any case, no one else was talking, so none of the others noticed.

Finally, after about ten minutes of silence, Shifu turned around and walked back to his students.

"So what are we going to do? Are we going to kick Sung's butt or what?" Po said enthusiastically, putting aside his seriously messed up emotions for the moment.

Shifu sighed. "I don't know."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before Po asked, "What do you mean?"

"I've searched every corner of my mind and I can think of nothing," Shifu said. "I simply cannot see how we can stop this."  
>There was another silence, this one despairing. Suddenly, Tigress straightened up. "Maybe we don't have to."<p>

"What?" Viper said.

"What was the population on the last census?" Tigress asked.

"One hundred three million," Crane answered.

"That minus forty thousand is…one-hundred-two million, sixty thousand," Tigress said, running the numbers through her head.

"Tigress, are you suggesting what I believe you are?" Shifu asked.

"A civilian army," she said, her eyes glowing with the fervent light of plotting. "If we could get even a few large villages to battle Sung's army, there would be no competition."

"But these are innocent people!" Viper protested.

"And besides, they don't know how to fight," Monkey pointed out.

"Maybe not," Tigress answered, "But sheer numbers would overwhelm Sung's army. And as for them being innocent lives, how many more would be slaughtered if they didn't fight? Those who are veterans, who have fought for China before, they would be the most valuable recruits. If we can raise a civilian army of at least…one hundred twenty thousand, it'd be three to one. Sung wouldn't stand a chance."

"But we'd never have the time," Shifu said. "It takes more than a few hours to start a revolution, Tigress, and Sung begins his march on China _tomorrow_."

"Then we have to buy more time." She closed her eyes, thinking. Then they sprung open. "Po and I could do it."

"Uh…how?" the panda said. "Because seriously, I'm lost here."

Tigress turned to him. "The Eye of the Dragon."

The effect of her words was instantaneous. Every immediately looked at her like she was crazy.

"No. You don't know the sequence," Shifu said, shaking his head.

"We do." When no one looked like they believed her, she said, "I went out to train one night, and I brought the sequence sheet along with me. _I didn't need it._" She let the effect of her words sink in. "As soon as I started the sequence, it was as if I already knew it, and I'd be willing to bet it's the same thing with Po. I don't know if we can harness the full power of it, but Master, we can buy you time. Each of you goes out to a different village and informs them. Po and I will distract the army and gain you some time."

"We can't raise a revolution," Shifu insisted. "No one in their right mind would volunteer."

"Are you kidding me?" Po said. "Half of the people in China would give their right paw to fight with you guys! Believe me, you have some serious power. If you tell someone to do something, they'll do it."

Everyone looked around, as if doing so would help them find another option. Then Monkey shrugged. "It's the best plan I've heard so far. I say we roll with it."

They didn't have a lot of time, so they worked quickly. A list of villages was thought up, and the number divided between Crane, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Shifu. They each had about three where they would go and try to get recruits, while Tigress and Po would go and make chaos at Sung's camp.

As they (they being the four and Shifu) were about to leave, Shifu told the others start without him. Then he called Tigress over.

She walked over to him and bowed. "Yes, Master?"

He stood there for a moment, then reached up and gently put her hands down for her. "Tigress."

She looked at him, surprised. "Mast-?"  
>"Not 'master,' Tigress. Not right now." He looked at his eldest pupil and his only daughter. "I wish to apologize."<br>"Apologize?" Tigress was confused, but for some reason, her heart had started to pound.

"For never being a father to you," Shifu said, staring at the ground because he had found he was unable to look her in the eye. "For never treating you as my daughter."

Tigress just stood there, stunned. Then, after a moment, she knelt down and pulled him into a hug. "Of course, Mas- Of course, father."

"I'm sorry for being so harsh on you," he said. "I was trying to protect you from Tai Lung's mistakes… And my own. I've always been proud of you, but I was afraid that my pride would do to you what it did to Tai Lung. I was wrong; you are nothing like Tai Lung, and you never could be."

"Never," she vowed.

"I just want you to know," he said, pulling away from the embrace, "That no matter what happens, I am so very, very proud of you. Not for what you have accomplished in your training, but for who you have become as a person. You are my daughter, whether or not it is by birth, and you have my blessing." He put a hand to her brow, then bowed to her and turned around, walking away.

Tigress watched him go, not even realizing that Po had walked up beside her.

"We should go," he reminded her. "We have to start annoying Sung, remember?"

"Not yet," she said. "Give him the rest of the day. Then we put our plan in action."

**Forests just above Devil's Pass, Day 8 (Approx. 11:45 p.m.)**

"Ready?" Tigress whispered.

"Let's do this thing!" Po answered.

Tigress quickly took the barrel and opened the top. She took a fistful of the black powder and held her paw up into the strong wind. The grains of gunpowder were all gone within instants, and she nodded. "Alright. Be _very_ quiet."

"Quiet. Gotcha."

She rolled her eyes. "I mean it, Po. We can't get caught."

"Okay, I get it. Stea-"

"Don't say it."

"Why not?"  
>"Because every time you say that, we get caught. So <em>don't say it<em>."

Slowly, they crept down into the camp, scattering gunpowder everywhere- on tents, in food, on the ground, near the fires. Other parts of it they threw into the wind so that it would carry to all the parts of the war camp. The guards were all asleep at their posts (just as Po and Tigress had known they would be), and didn't notice a thing.

When the two of them were done, they quickly went back up the mountainside, up on the cliffs.

"Not the best place to put an army, actually," Tigress said, looking around. "They'd be trapped if someone planned an ambush."

"Isn't that what we're doing?"  
>"Yes." She pulled a few long, cylindrical items out of a bag around her shoulders. "It was nice of that man at Shán Cún to sell us the gunpowder so cheap."<p>

"You're a pretty, uh, _persuasive_ person, Master Tigress," Po reminded her.

She gave him her trademark 'shut up' look, then handed him one of the items and two flint stones and said, "On three. One, two…three!"

They hit the stones together, the sparks jumping from the flint to the fireworks.

"Run, run!" Tigress said. They ran a few meters back and put their paws over their ears. Even with them covered, the boom from the fireworks was still deafening.

The fireworks shot low over the pass, low enough so that they wouldn't burn out before they hit the ground. And that was when the real fun started.

The fires sprung up in the war camp like little wells, first here, then there, and pretty soon they were just about everywhere. The panic spread throughout the huge war-camp, and the fire along with it as it was carried on the wind and the clothes of the men that came to tame it. Po let out one of his famous "Oh, yeah!"s and pumped his fist in the air. "Phase one of 'Buy Shifu Time' totally rocks!"

"Do you have to give everything a name?"

"Yeah. It makes it fun."

Tigress rolled her eyes. "Alright, so, as you put it, 'phase one' was successful. We'll wait here for the rest of the night and wait until tomorrow to execute the rest of the steps."

They watched the fire for a long time, measuring its progress throughout the camp. Soon, over half of the war camp was burning, and Tigress had the inexplicable feeling of having lit Rome on fire to watch it burn.

It was nearly three in the morning before the army finally got the fire under control. It was then that Tigress put a finger to her lips in the universal 'quiet' sign, and quickly disappeared over the edge of the cliffs. Po crawled to the edge and watched as she snuck through the camp, ignored amongst the chaos, and crept to the edge of Master Sung's tent.

**What Tigress heard:**

As she sidled up to the darkest wall Master Sung's tent, she pressed my ear to the canvas, listening for what she wanted to hear.

"Master, we have lost-"

"What did I tell you to call me?"

She heard the sound of someone gulping. "Er- Your Majesty, we have lost nearly half of our food and water, as well as a third of our weapons and a hundred or so men, with maybe five hundred more injured."

"So?"

"It would be…_unwise_… to attempt a takeover now-"

"No! We continue as planned." There was a smashing sound, like that of splintering wood, and something in the back of Tigress' mind wondered if this was where she'd gotten her bad temper from.

"M-m-master Sung, your Majesty, please, be rational," the other voice said. "Perhaps- perhaps we should give it a few days. Just one or two."

There was a long pause. Tigress held her breath.

"Two days," Sung said finally. "If the men aren't ready by then, then they can come talk to _me_." The warning in his words was hardly subtle. "Understood?"

"Y-yes, your Majesty."

That was all she needed to hear. Tigress crept away quickly, storing all the information she had heard inside her head and repeating it to remember. When she reached the cliff directly beneath Po, she extended her claws and scaled the stone walls.

"What is it?" Po asked, when she got to the top. "What'd he say?"

"Two days," she answered. "We've got two days before they go on march."

"You think that's enough time?"

She didn't answer right away. After a moment or two, she said, "I don't know. I hope so."

"What if it's not?"

"Then Sung marches on the valley," she said, and, without another word, laid down and closed her eyes.

"Hey- hey, wait! You're just going to lay down and go to sleep?"

"What else is there to do?" she answered, without even opening her eyes. "Our work is done for the night."

Po looked out over the pass uneasily, still feeling if they was something to be done.

"Go to sleep, Po," Tigress said, again without looking. The panda looked over at her, surprised. "Stop worrying and get some sleep, or you'll end up dead tomorrow."

Po gulped. He laid down and looked up at the trees, anything but reassured.

After a few moments, he heard a frustrated sigh beside him, and Tigress sat up. "Look," she said, "If you don't go to sleep, I'm going to be awake all night worrying about you. And that means that I'll get no sleep, either, and we'll _both_ end up dead tomorrow. So what's wrong?"

He sat up as well. "I don't know," he said, sighing. "I just- never mind, it's stupid."

She rolled her eyes. "It's about what I did today, right?"

"Uh, well…" he laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess."

"Hm. Let me see, you're wondering if I actually meant that, right?"

"Um…yep, that's about it."

"That's easy then." She fixed him with her scarlet eyes, which were, as usual, dead serious. "I meant it. Problem is," she said, laying back down, "I still don't know if we'll be able to complete the Eye of the Dragon."

"What do you mean?"

She looked over at him. "Do you remember what I told Shifu when I said we would be the diversion?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't lying. I don't know if we can harness the full power yet. I'm not sure if the bond is strong enough."

"Why wouldn't it be?" he asked, lying down beside her.

"Not enough time," she said simply. "The link between our souls hasn't had the opportunity to develop far enough."

"It's a little creepy, you know. Like, our souls being 'linked' or whatever. No offense," Po said.

"None taken. I know exactly what you mean," she answered.

"Guess there's no turning back, huh?"

She glanced over at him. "What do you mean?"

"You tried to break the whole 'bond' thing by being a total jerk. And nothing happened. So we can't really, I don't know, reverse this or anything."

She didn't answer for a long time. When she finally did, she said, "I don't know that I'd want to. In either case, no, I don't think so."

"So…if the Eye of the Dragon isn't strong enough yet…how are we going to do this thing?"

She turned to look at him, and from the look on her face, he knew he wasn't going to like it.

"The goal," she said, her voice very matter-of-fact, "Is to distract Sung long enough for Shifu and the others to gather the army. It is not to complete the Eye of the Dragon and wipe out his troops."

"So…you're saying we're going to be caught?" Po said, gulping.

"Truth?"

He nodded.

"Yes. We will likely get captured, possibly tortured or killed." Tigress' eyes were determined. "But that's not the point. The point is to buy time, and if we pay with our own lives, then so be it."

Po nodded. "Okay."

Tigress looked him over. "You have grown very brave, Po. Much braver than when we first met. But be careful not to confuse bravery with over-confidence." She gave him a grim smile. "Take my word for it; one only makes that mistake once, as they either end up dead from it, or they learn from it." And with those happy thoughts, she laid down once again, and went to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17 Floods of Blood

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

A/N: Sorry for the late update!

Tremomaru- will do! Thanks for reminding me, it's always hard for the writer to tell if the is staying IC.

** Eatingadonut- Ticks Like Dog Robbers? Tags Look Dang Right? I'm still not getting this! PLEASE COMMENT BACK!**

**Upstream of Devil's Pass, Day 9 (Approx. 7:00 a.m.)**

"Ready?" Tigress asked.

"Ready," the panda said, eyeing the river in front of him.

The Wéi Jiáng **(Great River)** was correctly named; The river was huge, a roaring, beast-like mass of water that almost seemed alive. It had carved its way through the mountains and was the only source of water for the villagers that lived in the towns there. At the north entrance of the Devil's Pass and the Dead Valley (another pass that was on the other side of the devide that separated the two), it split drastically into two rivers: the Mó Jiáng **(Sword River)**, which flowed through the Dead Valley, and the Xú Gái **(Devil Water)**, a relatively smaller stream that provided water to the Devil's Pass and to the villages nearby. However, if the Mó Jiáng was dammed, the Xú Gái would flood badly.

That was the objective here; Tigress and Po would break a huge chunk of rock off from the high cliffs around the fork of the two rivers, dam the Mó Jiáng, and flood out the camp.

Tigress looked at the cliff, analyzing the data. "You strike there," she said, motioning towards a fault along the cliff, near the bottom, "and I'll hit there." She pointed to another break, this one much higher. "On the count of three. One- two- THREE!"

Both of the warriors leapt for their respective targets. Tigress slammed into the cliff with the force of a meteor, though with a great more precision. As she hit the cliff with her right forepaw and her left back paw, she felt white-hot pain spike up her arm and leg, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Po, on the other hand, grabbed a small jut in the stone with the Wuxi finger hold, the dusky golden power dissipating against the stone. There was a loud cracking sound as the two fractures connected, and Po decided it would be a good idea to take a few _big _steps back.

Tigress landed beside him and ordered, "Get onto the cliff."

He decided that it would be a good idea to do what she said, and desperately tried to climb up the stone walls. Tigress sighed and picked him up, throwing him on top of the cliff with a grunt. She leapt up there herself, landing in a crouch. Standing up, she turned to look at what they had accomplished.

The earth shook and the illusion of an earthquake was presented to the two warriors as the very earth beside them shifted and began to topple. It seemed to hang in the air for a moment, almost in balance, before it slammed down with a deafening BOOM! into the river below, causing a huge wave to sweep along the sides, about half as high as the cliff itself.

Tigress turned around and watched as the other river began to rise. Slowly at first, but getting faster and faster as the seconds passed, the Xú Gái began to swell, wiping out dozens of trees and destroying the banks.

"So…this will flood the war camp, right?" Po said.

"Partially. We're far enough upstream that it won't flood the whole pass, but this is where the rivers meet. Besides, any closer and we would have flooded Shán Cún."

"So, Phase two worked, right?"

"Yes," Tigress said curtly. "We should leave."

As she turned, his eyes caught something scarlet, just below her hips. With a second glance, he saw what it was: her right paw, or rather the knuckles on it, was stained red with blood.

"Uh, Master Tigress?" he said.

"Yes?" she replied, not even bother turning around.

"Your paw."

"What about it?" she asked impatiently.

"You seriously can't feel that?"

At these words, she finally looked down at her fore-paw. White shards of bone were sticking out of her knuckles; they had shattered when she'd struck the rock. Even her two decades of striking the ironwood trees could not have made her invulnerable to the injuries of literally cracking a cliff side with her fists. With a strange sense of numbness, she looked down at it, slightly stunned and a little bitter. "No," she said, her voice dull. "I don't feel anything."

She let her hand fall to her side, without even wiping off the blood. Slowly, it dripped off her paw, falling to the ground and staining the emerald grass a dark mulberry red.

**Large Village in Northwest China (Approx. 12:00 noon)**

"We need volunteers," Shifu said to the crowds that had massed before him. "If we can't pull an army together in two days' time, Master Sung will march on China and destroy us all."

"But can't you defeat him?" someone from the crowd shouted out. Other murmurs arose at his question. "Yes, can't they beat him?" "If they can't, then why should we?"

"No," Shifu answered. "His army is about forty thousand men strong; there is no possible way that my six students and myself could alone defeat him. We need numbers, not skill." He looked at them solemnly. "You must understand that if you volunteer for this, then you will likely die. But you will die serving China and protecting your neighbors' freedoms."

There was silence for a few moments, before one monkey, stepping forward from his wife and children, said, "I will fight."

A young goose rose his hand. "I will, too."

"So will I," a dozen other people said at once. Soon, almost the whole male population of the crowd and even some women had volunteered. He thought that group looked to be at least a thousand.

"Good. Who knows the way to Devil's Pass?" Shifu asked.

Someone in the back of the crowd yelled out, "I do! My uncle lives there."

"Follow him," the red panda instructed. And before anyone could question him more, he had turned and began to run towards his next destination.

**Devil's Pass, Day 9 (Approx. 3:00 p.m.)**

Po and Tigress watched the camp beneath them scurry around, attempting to escape the water. Nearly a thousand warriors had already been lost to the flash flood, and many more had been injured.

"So. What next?" the panda said.

"I'll find out what Master Sung plans to do in a few hours," Tigress said, turning away from the scene. "Until then, we should practice."

"Practice what?"

She gave him a moment to think about it, her tail swishing back and forth.

"_Ohhh_," he said, and Tigress could almost see the little candle light up on top of his head.

"Yes. Now come over here; we need to get started."

He walked over to her and faced opposite the tiger master. They bowed to the sequence.

"Sequence," Tigress said, per custom, "Eye of the Dragon." **(In karate, you always show 'Rei' or respect, to the kata by bowing, and then say 'Kata: _****[put kata here]****_, to name the kata).**

Po repeated her words. "Eye of the Dragon."

"Ready and…begin."

They stepped into the first step of the sequence, and then suddenly, Tigress stopped. "Close your eyes," she instructed.

"Uh…okay." He shut his eyes. "What now?" he said, looking at the inside of his eyelids.

"Meditate," Tigress' voice said.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

He shrugged and did what she said. Within moments, he opened his eyes and found himself standing in his golden valley.

"So I was right," a voice said behind him. He whirled around. "Whoa!

Tigress took a few steps forward. "You're awake this time."

"Whoa," he repeated. "What- how-"

"I don't know," she said, cutting him off, "But I do know that this is how I was able to do the sequence. If we can figure out how to remain both here and in the physical realm equally, then we will be able to complete the Eye of the Dragon."

"I've only seen it clearer than this, like, twice," the panda said, looking around. "And that was only when I was in 'Inner Peace' mode, you know?"  
>Tigress didn't answer for a moment, before she said, "We should practice in the real world to begin with. Agreed?"<p>

"Yeah, sure."

Tigress opened her own eyes, and found herself still in the same position as before. She swept her foot into the next stance and brought a strike down to Po, who naturally blocked it, the steps coming easily, but not entirely correct.

"Move your foot out a little to the left," Tigress instructed. "Your stance is too narrow."

"Right." He moved his foot, and they continued.

They practiced for nearly three hours, trying to merge the physical reality with the Golden Valley. Nothing worked, no matter what they tried. In the end, Tigress said that it would be a good idea to quit for the day.

"Come on, Tigress, just one more time," Po pleaded.

She considered this for a moment. "Alright. Once more." Before they began, she swept the grass they had worn down away, exposing fresh dirt. She stood opposite the panda.

"Respect," she said, bowing to the kata. "Begin."

She stepped forward and attacked, to which Po also stepped forward, blocking. Swinging down on an overhead strike, she felt her arm thud solidly onto his.

They went through the rest of the sequence. As they reached the last three steps or so, Tigress felt her gaze lock directly onto Po's, whereas before she had been looking at him but not really seeing him. They were the same color as grass…

Suddenly, the world spun around them, and for an instant, Tigress saw her vision go double: she was seeing both the Golden Valley and the real world, completing the sequence in both.

As the final blow and block connected, Tigress noticed that both and Po were both shaking. "Did you-" the panda started.

"Yes," she said. Still stunned, she bowed and slowly backed away, looking stunned. One paw was held up, almost in defense.

"Yeah!" Po cheered. "Whoo hoo! We did it!"

"_Po_," Tigress said. He quieted down at her voice. "We need to know how that happened."

"Yeah, good point. So..." he looked at her expectantly. "How _did_ that happen?"

"I-" Her head was spinning. "I think it was when I did this." Feeling her cheeks go warm under her fur, she looked him dead in the eyes, willing for it to work. After a minute, she sighed and drew back. "Well. Aside from that being extremely embarrassing, nothing happened. I don't know did it before, but it wasn't that." Avoiding his eyes, she turned around and walked away, her back stiff.

"Tigress-"

"I should go see what Sung has decided," she said coldly.

"Master Tigress-!"

But she was already gone, slipping over the edge of the cliff and descending down into the pass.

**Devil's Pass, Day 9, Approx. 6:00 p.m. (Tigress' POV)**

I lowered herself down, digging my claws into the almost invisible crevices in the rock. Something in the back of my mind registered the pain in my claws, but it was so far removed that I almost couldn't feel it.

For whatever reason, no one spotted me, so I snuck up behind a lone soldier and knocked him upside the head. Within a few moments, I had tied his armor onto myself and put on the helmet, so that no one would recognize me.

I set off at a not-too-quick pace towards Sung's tent, focusing completely on that. I couldn't allow my mind to concentrate on what just happened; if I did, I would become too distracted to protect myself.

When I got to the tent a few minutes later, I hid in the shadow the way I had the night before. I closed my eyes and listened to the conversation.

"-Your Majesty," a deep voice said, "If I may so suggest, why don't we wait a few days longer?"

"No!" Sung said. "First the fire, now the flood? Someone is trying to distract us."

"But your Majesty-!"

"Do not oppose me on this, General Ko. My mind is set," Sung growled. "I-" Suddenly, he stopped.

"Your Majesty?"

"Please inform the soldiers that we will be leaving within two days' time."

I frowned in confusion. Why the sudden change of heart? Not to mention conversa-

Oh gods.

I quickly stood up. I had to get out of here-

Suddenly, the canvas wall of the tent tore, and I slammed into the ground as something picked me up and threw me to the dirt.

I looked up, slightly dazed and not a little angry, and saw two cunning yellow eyes, before there was a burning pain in my face and my vision was stained red.


	18. Chapter 18 The Hurt and the Hidden

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

**Devil's Pass, Day 9, Approx. 6:10 p.m. (Third person)**

Tigress had only been gone for about ten minutes when Po started to hear the screaming.

He scrambled to his feet and almost looked over the edge of the cliff before he remembered how dangerous that could be. He hesitated, halfway between drawing back and running forward.

Suddenly, a voice called out from the pass below. "Come out, Dragon Warrior. I know you're up there."

Po froze.

The voice grew impatient. "Come out or the Lotus Tiger dies."

His instincts kicked in, and he ran, half-stumbling, to the cliff, peering over the edge.

Master Sung was standing at the base of the cliff, his yellow eyes glinting in the night. This in itself was bad enough, but Po's eyes were drawn towards what, or rather whom, he held in his paws.

Tigress gasped for air, blood dripping from half a dozen slices across her face. As Sung twisted the claw that he had embedded in her back, she let out an involuntary scream, which was even more horrible because Po hadn't believed Tigress could make a sound like that. "EEEAAARRRGGGHHH!"

"Master Tigress!"

Her body arched from pain, writhing and jerking. When she finally slumped over, she didn't even have the energy to speak.

"Come down here, Dragon Warrior," Sung ordered.

"No-" Tigress gasped. "Po- don't AAAARRRGH!"

"Come down and surrender or I rip her heart out," Sung said. He turned his claw for a third time, dark blood dribbling down her back and pooling at her feet as another scream tore from her mouth.

That was it. Po immediately tried to clime down the cliff (to get to Tigress). Unfortunately, he lost his grip along the way, and he fell.

Sung watched with a combination of amusement and annoyance. "Not much of a Dragon Warrior, is he?" he muttered to Tigress, who growled. At the sound, he twisted his claw in the warm flesh once more, relishing in the scream of pain he forced from his captive.

Tigress had never been in so much pain in her entire life. It wasn't just the fact that this insane tiger's claws were literally centimeters from her breathing lungs and beating heart; it was also that he was using her. Using her like a toy.

She cursed her own stupidity. How could she not have anticipated his attack?

Despite the pain she was in, she managed to say, "How- dare- yAAAGGHH!"

"Now, now, little kitty," Sung said, laughing. "Be good."

She tried to breath through the pain, the torrents and tempests of excruciating agony. Her field of vision narrowed to what one might see through the long end of a telescope, and it was all a hazy red.

A voice, echoing slightly, said from above her, "Let her go!"

"How clichéd," Sung said sarcastically. But the claw that was holding her up did retract from her back, ripping out muscle and skin with it. Tigress' legs gave out beneath her, and she stumbled forward. Two arms caught her around the torso as she choked on the bile that rose in her mouth.

"Surrender," Sung said flatly. "I have nearly forty thousand men at my disposal; you are nothing more than an injured master and a fat panda."

"Hey, watch it with the weight jokes, buddy," Po said.

Something about this seemed so comfortingly normal that Tigress found the strength to stand, despite the fact that there was a big gaping hole in her body…_again_. She forced her legs to steady, and she turned to Sung. "We will never surrender," she said, her voice calm and steady as rock. The soldiers nearest to her took a few stunned steps back. Po could understand how this looked to them; the legendary Master Tigress, leader of the Furious Five, facing down the terrifying Master Sung, standing with a gushing wound in her back as if she couldn't even feel it.

Sung snarled. He rose a paw into the air and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a small section of warriors nearby advanced. Both Po and Tigress raised their hands into fighting stance.

Twenty or so highly trained soldiers versus two masters, one of whom was badly injured. There was only one outcome.

When both Po and Tigress had been fully incapacitated, Sung spared them a distasteful glance. "Chain them up in the cave on the east side."

Four men came forward: one for Tigress and three for Po. Sung watched as they were carried away, Tigress' back still leaking blood.

He thought it slightly odd, standing there so rigid as his birth daughter was carried away, only just escaping death by his hands (literally). He considered it for a second, wondering if he felt anything. After a moment, he let a smile twitch at his lips. No, he felt nothing. And why should he? She was nothing to him, just a game piece on a mahjong board.

After all, this was his game. And he would do anything- _anything_- to win.

**North China, Day 9 (Approx. 7:00 p.m.)**

Crane flew over the mountains, headed for the next village on his list. His thoughts were a long ways away (perhaps on his favorite apple-green snake), and he absentmindedly looked down and searched for a warm valley, wondering if there was any chance of a thermal to give him some help.

He sighed; nothing. Then, suddenly, he circled back around. He focused his keen eye, so trained for catching fish, on the ground below.

There! Tucking his wings in, he dove for the ground-

No, no, he'd lost it again. He opened his wings, lifting high into the air, searching once more. Had he imagined it?

There again! He was sure of it this time. Once again, he retracted his wings and dove.

Suddenly, his target whirled around and looked up. With a cry, she dropped the basket she was holding and ducked low as Crane swooped over her head, landing a few feet away.

He turned and looked at her, just to make sure he hadn't just been hallucinating. The panda looked back at him, violet eyes pleading. She was leaning against the wall of a small house. As a matter of fact, as he looked around, he saw hundreds of houses- no, no, many more than a hundred. He was in what seemed to be a large town, complete with even a temple.

"Don't tell anyone!" the panda begged, drawing his attention back to her. "Please- if Shen knew-"

Crane just stared back, trying to speak. After a moment, he said, "Ma'am, Lord Shen was defeated by the Dragon Warrior nearly two weeks ago." There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before he said, "Please excuse me, but…I believed that all the pandas were wiped out."

"No," she whispered. "Not- not all of us. You said that Shen was dead?"

Crane bobbed his head.

"Oh- Oh thank the gods," she said. "Master Jeng's vision was true." She shakily stood up and then, unexpectedly, began to cry.

Crane just stood there. "Er- Miss... is everything-"

"We're free!" she said, sobbing. "Free. After twenty-five years."

"Miss panda-"

"Everyone!" she called, running over to a crack in the nearby mountain slope. "Shen is dead! We're free!"

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling as hundreds of pandas began to pour out of the houses. Even more came out of the various cracks, caves, and hidden holes in the mountain wall.

Crane stared. "How?" he said, almost to himself.

Their were cheers and tears of celebration every the bird looked. It was the most amazing, incredible, unbelievable thing he had ever heard of. Thousands of refugee pandas, hidden in a mountains for nearly a quarter of a century.

"How is this possible?" he said again, turning to the crying violet-eyed panda beside him.

She laughed and hugged him, nearly crushing him. "When Shen came after us, we all ran as far as we could. We hid in the mountains here for twenty-five years. And now- now-"

"Who was it that freed us?" another panda asked. "Who is the Dragon Warrior?"

"Yes, who?" others echoed.

Crane tried to explain, but as soon as he did, someone else would ask him another question.

"SILENCE!" a voice bellowed.

Everyone turned to look at the speaker. An older panda, about fifty years of age, was standing at the top of the temple steps.

"Master Jeng," everyone murmured, bowing in respect.

The panda walked down the steps, approaching Crane. "You say that Shen is dead?" he asked.

Crane nodded. "Yes. I saw it myself."

"Who killed him?" the panda ordered.

"The Dragon Warrior did," Crane replied.

"Who is the Dragon Warrior? What does he look like?" Master Jeng said urgently.

"Uh- well, his name is Po, and he's a panda. He kind of looks like you," Crane said, shifting his talons.

Jung looked up at the sky. "So I was right," he murmured.

"Um- excuse me, Master Jeng?" Crane said, bowing in respect (he was, after all, a stranger here).

"Oh, no, no, Master Crane. Do not bow to me; it is I that should be bowing to you." Master Jeng smiled and bowed to him. "I merely mean to say," he said, straightening up, "that my vision was correct. My son is alive."

That was when Crane realized whom he was talking to. "You are Po's father?"

"Po," Jeng murmured. "So that is his name now." He shook himself slightly. "Yes, I am. Is he alright? Is he safe?"

Crane shuffled his wings. "Well…no. Not exactly." He explained to the pandas of their predicament. "We need a volunteer army to stop Master Sung before he marches on China. I was on my way to another village to look for recruits, but at the rate we're going, we'll never be able to get the amount of warriors we need, and Po and Master Tigress will probably die."

"I see." Jeng studied the bird. "Perhaps we can help you with that."

Crane looked up, barely daring to hope-

"There are about forty thousand pandas here, thirty thousand of which have been trained in Kung Fu."

"Trained? How?" Crane asked.

"From a collection of ancient scrolls I happened to have with me when we ran." The panda looked down at the bird. "So, Master Crane, may we offer our assistance?"

Crane, stunned, bobbed his head. "Yes. I- You have my thanks, Master Jeng. And the thanks of China."

Jeng bowed. "Where should we go?"

"To Shán Cún. The rest of the revolution should be there." Crane was still stunned, but he was trying to handle it professionally. "Thank you."

"Anything, for the Dragon Warrior. And my son." He turned to the thousands of pandas. "Ready yourselves, my friends. It is time to walk free once again!" He raised his fist into the air, and a cheering roar erupted from the crowds.

**Cave, Devil's Pass, Day 9 (Approx. 11:00 p.m.)**

Tigress opened her eyes, then closed them again as a wave of pain washed over her. She sucked in air through gritted teeth and tried not to scream.

She was so weak! It was just one wound, why was she so- so- The thought was cut off as she screamed mentally, the hole in her back throbbing. Despite her determination not to shout out, a small cry escaped her mouth.

At the sound, Po stirred and woke up. Seeing Tigress lying on the ground, shuddering and spasming in pain, he sat up and knelt beside her. "Master Tigress!"

She opened her eyes. "Po. I- ohhh…" she closed them again, her breath coming quick and shallow.

"Tigress?" He looked at her worriedly. "What should I do?"

She was silent for a second, before gasping, "Blood- Stop-"

"How?" he asked instantly.

"No- bandages?" He shook his head. "Needle- and thread- in my vest." She reached up with a her claw and tried to unhook her vest, but her paws were shaking too much to get ahold of the clasp. Po reached forward and undid it for her, then took the small sewing kit out of the pocket on the inside of her vest.

She struggled to sit up. When she found that she couldn't, she forced herself to roll over, her vest falling off as she did so. The wound was just below her shoulder and right above the linen around her chest.

"Two- broken ribs-" Tigress gasped. "Don't bother- with them- just sew it up."

Po gulped and lowered the needle. He was about to close his eyes when he thought better of it. Holding his breath, he pushed the needle through Tigress' back as gently as he could.

The tiger master didn't even flinch. As quickly as he could, Po sewed up the wound, trying not to throw up.

When he was done, Tigress rolled back over onto her back, still in as much pain as before. She closed her eyes and just lay there, shaking from pain on the cold stone floor of the cave.

She didn't speak for a long time. As a matter of fact, she didn't make _any_ sounds for a long time. Po watched, afraid to touch her for fear that he might hurt her more.

After a long while, she finally opened her eyes and forced herself to sit up. Swallowing, she said quietly, "I apologize for getting us caught."

"It's not your-"

"It is," she said harshly, cutting him off. "I wasn't careful enough, and I ended up putting everything at risk."

"It's not your fault," Po said again. "Aw, come on, Tigress, you can't blame yourself. I'm the one that came down, alright?"

"No," she growled through her teeth. "I should have told you this would happen."

"That what would happen?"

Tigress bit back a snarl as another wave of pain crashed down upon her. "Po. I need you- grr- I need you to promise me something."

Po stared. "Uh…sure. What?"

"Master Sung will try to use us against each other," she said. "He- he will hurt me to try to gain your support…and vice versa."

Po gulped. "You mean-"

"Torture," she said grimly. "Don't think he won't try it." She took him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eye. "Promise me that no matter what he does to me, you won't give in." When he didn't answer, she shook him slightly. "Promise me, Po!"

"Okay, okay!" He shrugged her claws off. "But you have to do the same thing."

She tried to. She really did, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Come on, Master Tigress. Where's that hard core?"

He meant it jokingly, but Tigress slumped down, looking more defeated then Po had ever seen her. "I think I lost it when Shifu told me to kill him."

"What?"

"It was in the letter he gave me," she said, not looking at him. "That's why I threw the knife I at Sung. I thought I might…"

"Be able to hit him?" Po finished.

"Yes." She growled in the back of her throat. "It was foolish to believe I could lay so much as a hand on one of the greatest Kung Fu masters of all time."

"Ah, well, I wouldn't say the grea- ae- uh-" he trailed off at the look Tigress gave him.

"His skills range far beyond my training," she said. "I should have done as Shifu ordered."

"What, kill him?"

"Yes."

He stared at her disbelievingly. "But, I mean- could you have done that?

Tigress didn't answer him, but his words echoed in her head long after he'd asked. After all, hadn't she been wondering the same thing?


	19. Chapter 19 Murder Most Foul

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Artemis Decibal- no he did not mistake her for a fish. I was merely referring to the fact that his eyes, so well trained to seeing those tiny little suckers in the water, would be able to see the panda.

Everyone- Wow, this review thing sucks, huh? I'm reading all your responses on my email- thanks to every1 who's reviewed, BTW, I'm reading them as they come in through my email!

**Valley of Peace, Day 10 (Approx. 7:00 a.m.)**

Shifu walked down the streets of the well-known town. Many of the villagers were awake already, opening their businesses in the early morning, though the entire town seemed quiet.

Before he began asking for recruits, there was something he wanted to do. It wasn't the best idea, he knew, what with him already being pressed for time…but no, he owed it to the man to tell him.

Someone called out a greeting, and he smiled and said hello back. He had become much more friendly with the villagers ever since the Winter Festival the previous year, where he had became acquaintances with many of them.

He walked into the small noodle shop, where Mr. Ping was already getting ready for the day.

"Oh, Master Shifu!" Mr. Ping said, setting down the basket of radishes he was holding and bowing to the red panda.

"Mr. Ping," Shifu said, bowing as well.

"Come in, come in, have some noodles," said the goose, bustling into the kitchen.

"I'm afraid I haven't the time," Shifu said gravely. "I bring ill news of your son."

Mr. Ping stopped and turned to the master worriedly. "My Po?"

"Yes. He and Master Tigress are stalling a powerful tiger named Master Sung, who has a huge army at Devil's Pass while my other four students and myself attempt to raise a resistance. Sung plans to march on China within a day or so." Mr. Ping's wing went to his mouth in shock. "If Po is caught, he- he is likely to die." Shifu leaned heavily on the staff as his mind flashed to his own child, who was in as much danger as the panda. "Forgive me, I did not wish to be the bearer of bad news. I will leave you to yourself." He turned and was about to leave when Mr. Ping's voice said from behind him:

"You say that Master Tigress is with him as well?"

Shifu nodded without turning around.

"She is your adoptive daughter, yes?"

"Yes." Shifu swallowed.

Suddenly, on his shoulder, he felt a slight pressure, as light as feathers- quite literally. He turned and saw Mr. Ping, a sympathetic expression on his face.

"Sit for a minute," the old bird coaxed gently. "You are tired from the journey and you deserve a break. I have some noodles, fresh in the pot. We can break our fast together, yes?"

Wordlessly, Master Shifu nodded.

Mr. Ping led him over to a stone table and went over into the small kitchen. He returned a minute later with two bowls of hot Secret Ingredient Soup.

"This is very good," Shifu said, drinking from the broth. The hot soup was strangely comforting; it tasted similar to Po's, and it reminded him of the dinners that he would usually eat in the Jade Palace with his students.

"Thank you, thank you." Mr. Ping said, also drinking from his soup.

"May I ask you something?" Shifu said, putting his bowl down quietly.

"Oh, of course, Master Shifu, of course," the bird replied.

"You raised Po on your own, correct?"

Mr. Ping nodded. "Yes, that's true."

"How did you do it?" Shifu asked. "I- I have tried twice, and twice I have failed." He looked away in an attempt to keep composure.

"Failed? No, no," Mr. Ping said, shaking his head. "Master Tigress is quite the young woman."

"Yes, however…" He closed his eyes as horrible images of Tai Lung's wrath flashed through his mind. "How did raise him as well as you did? How did you know you weren't being to soft on him, or too harsh?"

"Oh, it wasn't an easy task," Mr. Ping said knowingly. "He was a growing boy, always hungry, always getting into trouble… but the trick was to balance the punishment with love."

"Balance?"

"Yes. You see, Master Shifu, even when I was angry at him, Po knew I still loved him, and that I did what was best for him." Smiling slightly, he picked up his bowl and drained it. "I would not be so hard on yourself, Shifu. After all, Tai Lung showed up on your doorstep. You had no warning."

"Neither did you," Shifu pointed out.

"That's true. But one mistake does not warrant a failure."

"But I was never a real father to Tigress," Shifu protested. It felt strange, to be confiding this to a near-stranger. "I never gave her my support, my confidence-"

"You gave her a home," Mr. Ping interrupted. "You gave her a family and a place where her strength could be respected. From what Po has told me of her past, you taught her self-discipline and control over her temper."

"But never love," Shifu muttered to himself bitterly.

The goose caught the half-spoken words and smiled a little sadly. "The past is the past, Master Shifu," he admonished. "What you did yesterday created today, but what you do today will make tomorrow. That is true, yes?"

It was the sort of advice Oogway would have given him, before his passing. The words rang true, and Shifu nodded. "Yes. You are correct…Thank you, Mr. Ping."

"Oh, no trouble, no trouble at all. As for the revolution, well, you have this old goose on your side." The bird walked back into the kitchen and rinsed out the two bowls. "Now, you are in a bit of a hurry, yes?"

"Er, yes-"

"Well, scoot! Scoot!" The goose waved his feathers in a shoving sort of way, as if he was shooing Master Shifu out of the restaurant. "Get going."

Shifu nodded. "Thank you. I wish you good fortune." He smiled slightly as he turned to leave; perhaps the bird wasn't so eccentric as he had thought.

**Village in Southeast China, (Approx. 9:00 a.m.)**

Viper wasn't known for speeches.

As a matter of fact, she wasn't much known for _anything_ that had to do with public speaking. She didn't particularly like it. Unlike Tigress, who was loud, bold, and bluntly honest, she was quiet and more of the listening type. She rarely rose her voice at anyone.

But, in that quietness, there was a certain power: when she _did _choose to yell, everyone immediately turned to listen.

So it was now. The crowds stood at attention, listening to her well prepared and, by now, well practiced speech.

"We need brave, loyal people to do their duty," she said, her voice carrying in the silence. "It's likely that, should you volunteer, you will die. But if you die, you will die an honorable death, fighting for China and for your freedom." She looked many of the animals in the crowd directly in the eye. "We can't do this alone. We need your help. _I _need your help."

It went without saying that many people decided to join the cause. After all, this was a member of the Furious Five, asking so kindly and yet so desperately for their help. How could they refuse?

**Cave, Devil's Pass, (Approx. 10:00 p.m.)**

"Concentrate."

Tigress closed her eyes and meditated, attempting to fully clear the Golden Valley of its mist. But no matter how much she struggled, the fog stubbornly refused to move.

"Come on, Master Tigress, you can do it!"

"I'm trying!" she growled angrily. In frustration, she strained against the chains that bound her to the infernal cave.

"So…why can't we break these again?" Po said, lifting up the aforementioned chains.

"They're made of solid steel embedded with spider silk," she answered. "If you can break them, go right ahead."

"Naw, let's try the meditation thing again."

She could have strangled the panda. "It's not working, Po, and it's not going to. Give up."

"Come on, one more try?" he pleaded.

She snarled. "No."

"Come on, Tigress. We can't do the sequence right if you don't find your _Inner Peace_."

"Says he who has already achieved it," she retorted.

"There's gotta be something that's getting in the way," he said.

"There's nothing," she snapped.

"Master Tigress."

His tone had changed entirely. It was now less joking, more…serious, compassionate. Po rarely got that kind of tone.

"Master Tigress, what's wrong?"

She pulled her legs in closer as the whole cave seemed to grow colder. "Nothing," she repeated.

"There's something wrong, isn't there?" he said. "Something that you're scared of."

She tensed. "I'm afraid of nothing," she snapped. "Nothing and no one."

"Then there's only one thing left," he said, reasoning it out (the look on his face was priceless). "You're afraid of…you?"

Tigress' face hardened for an instant, before her expression became disbelieving, and she said, "Don't be an idiot. Why would I be afraid of myself?"

"Uh…I dunno." There was another long silence, before he said, "So, are you going to tell me or am what?"

She snarled at him. After another minute, she said in a low voice, "You are sure that this will help me?"

"Yeah- I mean, kind of."

"Kind of?" she said sarcastically.

"Well…it might work or it might not."

"That's reassuring." A few moments, she said in a low voice, "Everything I touch, I break."

"What?"

She shot a glanced at him, an uncharacteristic fear in her eyes. With another moment of hesitation, she began her story.

"Tigers are born strong. It's part of our nature," she said quietly. "There aren't many of us left, but those that do exist are naturally powerful. But the strength isn't a blessing; it's a curse." She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes. "We're dangerous, overly-powerful monsters that must be controlled."

"Tigre-!"

"No one should have that kind of power," she snarled. "No one. Especially not someone like me."

"What are you talking about?" the panda said. "You're totally awesome!"

She closed her scarlet eyes. "Do you know why the people at Bao Gu called me a monster?" she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Uh…because you were really strong and you destroyed your room at the orphanage?" he guessed.

"No," she said, opening her eyes into small slits. "When- when I was very small, one of the younger orphans- a rabbit- disappeared in my wing of the orphanage. The next day, his broken body was found beneath my window. Everyone thought I killed him."

"But you didn't, right?" Po said, laughing nervously.

Tigress didn't answer.

"Uh…right?" he said, nudging her.

She looked at him, an overwhelming amount of guilt in her eyes. She moved her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out.

Po just stared at her, as his entire image of the tiger master shattered in front of him.

"I only wanted to play," she finally said, her voice cracking. "I- I didn't try to! I just wanted to play."

He began to back away instinctively.

"It was an accident," she continued, her voice breaking in a dozen places. "I tried to play tag with him, but when I caught him, my tap was too hard. He fell back- out through the window-" She buried her face in her arms, her body quaking. At the sound of clinking, she looked up to see Po pressed against the stone wall of the cave. The shocked horror in his face was obvious, more painful than if he'd stabbed her with a sword.

There was nothing she could say, so she once again put her head down, this time turning her face away from him and resting her head down on her arms and knees. Tears began to roll down her fur-covered cheeks as she realized that he was never going to look at her the same way again. The people at Bao Gu were right; she _was_ a murderer. A monster.

**A/N: Okay, the first part was designed as a little Father's Day bit. The second was to show to you why Tigress, with all her training, has not achieved Inner Peace. Come to think of it, maybe some of **_**you**_** won't ever be looking at her again. O_O**


	20. Chapter 20 Truth of Identity

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: I want to apologize for the numerous typos in my last chapter. My spellcheck didn't catch them, and I didn't post-read, so neither did I. My apologies!

**A/N: As you can see, I've redone this chapter to make it less gruesome, as some of you didn't like my other chapter that much. Please forgive my earlier attempt.**

**Cave, Devil's Pass, Day 10 (Approx. 12:00 a.m.)**

Two hours had passed without a word between the two warriors. Tigress' tears had subsided, but every time Po tried to talk to her, she snarled at him. She wasn't sure if he was going to admonish her or try to make her feel better, but she didn't want his anger or his pity.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared at the mouth of the cave. Both the panda and the tiger lifted their heads.

Sung walked down the length of the cave until he stood in front of the two, a cunning smile twitching at his lips, which revealed his sharp white fangs.

Tigress was the first to speak. "You'll get nothing out of us," she snarled.

Sung's smile widened. "Such courage," he said, "for someone so young." He knelt down and traced one claw along her face. Tigress growled, and he drew away, flicking his claw to add one more cut to the six or seven fresh scars already on her face. "But courage alone is not enough," he continued. "Strength, power, cunning… these are more important than courage."

Tigress barred her fangs. "You're a fool," she hissed.

"Fool? You dare call me a fool? I have the power to make your lives a living nightmare!" the other tiger spat back.

"Yeah? Well you're never gonna get to do that, buddy, because Master Tigress is going to kick your butt!" Po interrupted. "Hiyah! Kyo-"

Master Sung just stared at him as he went into his Kung Fu shouts. "Is he always like this?" he muttered to Tigress.

"You have no idea."

Without another word, Sung walked within an arm's reach of Po and slapped him across the face with the back of his hands. "Shut up."

Po was surprised for a moment, before he frowned. "Fine. If that's the way it's going to be-" He started to strain against the chains.

"Po," Tigress said.

"Urrgh- It's- almost- there-"

"_Po_."

"Huh? What?"

"Give up."

With a child-like scowl, he sat back down. "I almost had it," he muttered.

Master Sung rolled his eyes. "Now that you're done behaving like a child, I suggest that we move on with my real reason for being here."

"I'm terrified," Tigress said sarcastically.

"Yeah, Master Tigress is gonna kick your-"

"Do you _ever_ shut up?" Sung nearly roared.

"No," Tigress and Po said at the same time.

Sudden as a bolt of lightning, Sung's paw shot out and smacked her across the face. "Now, now, little kitty," he said patronizingly. "Don't scratch, or you'll make this all the harder on yourself. This will be simple if you answer the questions," said Sung. "Either of you, I'm not picky which. If you don't, well, you'll see soon enough.

"Now, I know that you two are the ones that have been terrorizing my camp. And I also know that you're alone. So tell me: _where are Shifu and the others?_"

Tigress snarled and tried to hit him, but Sung only lashed out again, hitting her across the face. "We'll tell you nothing," she growled.

Sung barred his fangs. "You will," he said, and slashed at her again.

It was as if someone had just hit her with a hot iron. She jolted back involuntarily, her head smacking into the cave wall with a sickening crack.

"Master Tigress! Master Tigress, are you okay?" Someone was calling her name.

"Where is Shifu?" Another blow struck across her face.

"I- won't- tell," she ground out.

Her head was pounding, the blood roaring in her ears.

"WHERE IS HE?" Sung roared, his temper exploding. Tigress was in too much pain to even retort.

"Stop! Master Shifu- he's-" Po started, but Tigress, grasping at her last fleeting bits of strength, cut him off.

"No - Don't tell him- You promised-" A sharp cry was ripped from her mouth as Sung's curled paw hit her temples.

When her face had been bruised black and blue, Sung roared and slammed his paw down onto the ground. "Where do you find your fortitude?" he demanded. "This technique had never failed."

Tigress barely found the strength to answer. "For China," she growled through her teeth. "And- for my- master."

Sung snarled and slapped her, knocking her head back against the wall. He waited a few moments to regain his temper. "Then I have no choice," he said coolly. "Neither of you will talk, and if this _panda_ has withheld the information while watching yours, then there is no chance that you will talk during his."

"So, uh…what are you going to do with us?" Po said, trying to sound a lot more hard-core than he felt.

"That is simple. I shall release your spirits."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. You mean kill us?" the panda said disbelievingly.

"You can't," Tigress growled. "You need us to help you. You need our power."

"No," Master Sung replied. "I simply cannot allow Shifu to have it. If I were to hold it myself that would simply be a bonus, but if I cannot, then no one shall. Besides," he said, turning to walk away, "you should be thanking me for setting you free from these prisons."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather you'd just let us go instead of killing us," Po said.

Sung stopped. "But there is no other way to free you," he said, turning back around to look at the panda.

"Uh, yeah, there is," Po said. "You know, just unlock these chains?" He lifted his arm to show Sung the manacles.

Looking between the two of them, a look of almost disbelief rose to the tiger's face. It was quickly replaced by a cunning smile. "So. Shifu hasn't told you then. Or perhaps he himself does not even know."

"Told us about what?" Tigress said, her curiosity overpowering her pain.

Sung walked back to where they were chained. "I'm truly surprised," he said. "You really don't know, do you?"

"You'd better tell us before I rip your throat out!" Tigress snarled. It was an empty threat, of course, which just made Sung smile wider.

"The Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Tiger are not simply two people harnessing the power of the Yin and Yang," he said.

"Okay, then what are we?" Po demanded.

"You poor fools. Don't you know who you are?" Sung asked.

Both Po and Tigress just stared back, obviously not understanding.

"You _are_ the Yin and the Yang."

**A/N: Yeah, short chapter, I know. Sorry!**


	21. Chapter 21 Fate and Figurines

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

Everyone who commented on the declawing- Yeah, sorry, I guess I went a little dark and demonic there. That's why I changed it. **NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE EDITED CHAPTER, PLEASE DO SO OR THIS WON'T MAKE MUCH SENSE! **I'm sorry. Also, no, this isn't a kids' movie. I wouldn't' recommend DreamWorks to use this at all.

**Cave, Devil's Pass, Day 10 (Approx. 12:15 p.m.)**

There was dead silence for a moment, before Tigress said, "I get it."

Po looked over at her. "You do?"

"Yes. I understand completely." She looked Master Sung dead in the eyes. "_You're insane_."

Sung stared back for a moment, before he started to laugh. "You don't believe me."

"Of course we don't believe you," Tigress said coolly. "You just told us that we're the Yin and Yang."

"Oh, but you are, little tiger," Sung said. "Your spirits are the legendary two halves of the Yin and Yang, the balance of the universe. Death and life, winter and summer, matter and spirit. Unfortunately, that means I can't kill you one at a time, or the world would be thrown into chaos."

"Isn't that what you want?" the younger tiger asked.

"Of course not," Master Sung said, brushing off the idea with a wave of his hand. "What good would chaos be? No, I only need the two of you out of the equation, or at least on my side." He paced in front of them. "I need to kill you two at the same time, then burn the remains."

Po gulped. "So you're going to run us through with some swords and then burn us?"

"Of course not," Sung said. Po almost sighed with relief, before he heard the tiger master say, "Running you through with swords would be inefficient. After all, we only need one."

**Devil's Pass, Day 10, (Approx. 6:00 p.m.)**

A sea of faces that faded off into the growing darkness surrounded the post. The noise was even more voluminous; the buzz of activity that surrounded the coming execution drowned out the voices of every animal to those except those nearest him.

Tigress and Po were chained to the metal post in the middle of the aforementioned pile, both of which were made of the same spider-silk embedded iron.

"-So if we're the Yin and Yang, does that mean we go into the whole universe after we die, or do we get reincarnated, or-"

"Would you _shut up_?" Tigress snarled.

The panda stopped talking, and she bit back a sigh of relief. Finally, some peace and-

"You think it's going to hurt?"

She slammed her head against the iron post in frustration and was rewarded with an increase in her headache. "I don't know, Po," she snapped. "I don't know if getting out heads cut off is going to hurt or not. If you don't mind, I'm trying _not_ to think about it." She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, a paw touched her arm. "Tigress. You're shaking."

She didn't answer, but she knew that she too could feel the tremors running through her body.

"Are you scared?" _What a stupid question, of course she's scared!_

"No!" she snarled. "I- I'm not afraid."

There wasn't a response for a moment, before his paw found the tiger master's and he linked his fingers through hers. Something about the touch, which was intended to give her a small inkling of strength, weakened her spirit. She dropped her head.

"How can you stand to touch me?" she said, her voice low. "Now that you know what I've done."

"Because you mean more to me then what you did," he said. "I mean, it was an accident, right?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters," he insisted. "It means that you're not a monster. And you're _not_," he said, before she could object.

"I can't die like this," she said, and he could hear the fear in her voice. "I can't stand dying knowing I have a life on my conscience."

"You've done amazing things. You've saved my butt a gazillion times; you've become a Kung Fu master; you've even saved China!"

"That doesn't make up for a life," she said harshly.

"Tigress," he said, his voice gentle. "What you did then doesn't make who you are now. And besides, what else can you do now? All that's left is to forgive yourself."

Tigress didn't answer, but slowly, he began to hear a slight whimpering sound.

"Master Tigress?"

"It hurts," she breathed, trying not to pass out.

Po couldn't' even imagine how much pain Tigress had to be in. Three broken ribs, two holes in her body, and now she'd been beaten black and blue. She was the strongest person he knew, and Sung was determined to beat and torture her into submission. He didn't know what else to do to comfort her, except for continue to hold her paw in support.

As he did so, he felt something in the back of his mind- almost like a distant ache. After a few moments, he realized that somehow he was feeling Tigress' pain.

If he could feel her pain, then maybe he could give her some strength.

Tigress stiffened as she felt the energy flow in through her fingertips, then sighed with relief as the pain in her head and pretty much everywhere else began to decrease. "Thank you, Po," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Sung's evil," he said in a low voice.

"You're just figuring that out?"

"I knew he was the bad guy and all that, but I never knew he could be so…"

"Sadistic?" she said, with a grim smile.

"Yeah. He's one of those guys that deserve to get mugged. And pushed off a cliff."

She chuckled. "I agree completely."

There was another long silence between them, before Tigress said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What?"

"Where did you get those figurines of us?" she said.

It was the most unexpected thing she could have said. He nearly choked, even though for once there was nothing in his mouth. "What?"

"Where did you get them? I'm fairly sure I never signed over any rights." She meant it teasingly, but she actually did want answers. She thought it was slightly ironic that she was going to die and she was focusing on legal rights.

"Oh, um…okay, don't laugh."

"I'm about to die," she said. "You think I'm going to laugh?"

"Good point. Uh…well, I made them myself."

Now it was her turn to nearly choke. "You what?"

"You said you weren't going to laugh!"

"I'm not," she insisted. "Just…why?"

"Well…you guys were like my _heroes_," he said. "Especially you. So I kind of, you know, made little figurines." If she could have seen him, she was sure he would have been blushing.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. All I ever wanted was to be one of you guys. You know, training every day and battling the evil guys with amazing Kung Fu skills?"

"Not as amazing as you thought, right?" she said, her tone bittersweet.

"Maybe. But it's been a cool ride." She could hear the grin in his voice, and despite the circumstances, a small smile twitched at her lips.

"Yes," she said, more to herself than to him. "I suppose it has."

Suddenly, a figure came through the near-darkness, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. The two warriors gripped each other's hands, the unspoken message between them clear: We die together.

Sung stepped forward and raised his sword in the flickering firelight, making it appear orange. The glare of the metal raised a roaring cheer from the army, a sound like an earthquake. Sung joined in with a roar of triumph; the execution was about to begin.

**A/N: Short chapter again. Mis disculpes.**


	22. Chapter 22 The Execution

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

Carmonator- Whoa, really? Thanks! Yo no hablo muy espeñol, y yo escribo usted mal. (And I'm guessing that last bit in Spanish made you cry).

Everyone else- Okay, so you did like the chapter 20 the way it was? In any case, I'm _way _too lazy to change it back. Sorry!

**Devil's Pass, Day 10 (Approx. 6:15 p.m.)**

Both warriors were unchained from the post, though the other sets of chains that bound their hands and feet remained. Tigress snarled and attempted to escape (some part of her was still clinging to the hope that this would be just one more near-miss), but one of the soldiers quickly cuffed her upside the head. The spike in her headache only made her angrier, but it was one injured tiger and a panda versus forty thousand men.

Well, not exactly. It only took three to bring Tigress to her knees, and one to knock over Po, four total.

Tigress strained against her chains, even though she knew it was useless. One would need a battle-ax to get those things off, and she was a little short on battle-axes at the moment.

Two large pieces of stone, each with a slight scoop in the middle for the neck to fit into (though not enough to avoid the blade), were set side by side in front of the two masters. The original four soldiers took the honor of holding them down. Tigress twisted her head so that she wasn't looking down at the ground.

Master Sung walked in front of the two, the executioner to the side. With a glance, the feline heroine saw that the wolf's executioner axe had been modified to have two blades- one for each of them. She felt her stomach convulse.

"Any last words?" Sung said, his voice filled with the cocky triumph of a victorious man.

"Oh, I've got some words for you, buddy," said Po. Tigress chuckled- or at least, she did until Sung kicked Po in the face. Then her chuckle turned into a snarl.

Sung glanced over. "What about you, little kitty? Any final comments?"

She could think of a lot of things she wanted to say, but this was her final testimony, and she didn't exactly want the words that would be remembered to be a long list of profanity. She snorted inwardly at the irony of it; even in death, there were expectations for a master.

She mustered up all her courage and pride and looked at Master Sung. "I apologize to China and to my master for not being able to stop you. And I apologize to my comrade, Po-" at this, she looked over at him, "-for not doing my duty as a friend."

"How very touching-" Sung said sarcastically, but Tigress cut him off with a snarl.

"I'm not finished," she growled. "Just in case you're wondering, Sung, you may be my sire, but you're not my father. And I thank the gods that you were too much of an arrogant brute to keep me. Oh, and one last thing." She glared at him with all the malice she'd ever felt. "You can kill us if you want, but I _promise_ you: China won't stand for this. You will fall, and the nation will kill you for what you've done."

Sung took a step back, a little stunned. Tigress couldn't suppress a feral grin at this small show of weakness. Then his face hardened, and he snarled. "It's not as if your foolish opinion changes anything. You're going to die. Now." He took a few steps back and raised his hand into the air. The executioner lifted the axe, looking at the tiger for the drop command.

Tigress looked Po in his emerald-green eyes. "You ready?" she said softly.

"Yeah. They say the afterlife's a pretty awesome place," he said, that usual joking grin on his face.

Tigress smiled back, finally accepting her fate, and in her heart, something clicked. She took in a deep breath, and somehow, the part of her that remained in the Golden Valley registered that she had finally found her Inner Peace.

_Wait a minute. Inner Peace?_

She sucked in another breath, this one faster. "Po!" she hissed.

"Yeah?"

"Warriors!" Master Sung roared, his voice resounding through the past. "Today, we witness our victory over the Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Tiger! Today, we become the most powerful men IN ALL OF CHINA!"

The crowds cheered, the noise deafening. Tigress struggled to be heard above the noise.

"Inner Peace."

"What?"

"Inner Peace. I can feel it."

He looked at her. "That's great, Tigress, but don't you think it's a little late?"

She gave her usual determined half-smirk. "It's never too late."

He couldn't help but grin back. "Okay. So what do we do?"

The smirk vanished, and was replaced by her usual sharp-as-glass demeanor. "We have approximately thirty seconds before he stops gloating and gives the executioner the go-ahead. If we can jump far enough forward so that the axe hits the chains, it can break them." At least, she hoped they could.

"With these guys on us?" He glanced back at the four wolves, who were cheering with the rest of the soldiers.

"If we surprise them, I think we can get out of their grasp. I'll knock out the executioner, take his axe, break my leg chains, and then bust yours."

"Then what?"

"That's when we do the Eye of the Dragon sequence."

"You seriously think we can do it?" he said, his eyes wide.

"Yes." There was finality in her tone that stunned the panda just slightly. The determination in her voice, the absolute bravery in those scarlet eyes, seemed almost physical. In that instant, Po realized something that he'd never noticed before: Tigress wasn't hard-core, she was strong-spirited. Her sense of courage had never failed her, even when her strength had, and she was relying on every iota of it now.

He stared at her for a moment, and then, grinning, he said, "Let's do it."

"And now," Sung said, whirling around to face the two appearing helpless warriors, "WE WITNESS OUR TRIUMPH!"

He brought his hand slashing down. At the same time, Tigress shouted, "NOW!"

Both she and Po lunged forward. A nano-second later- luck was on their side- the axe slammed down onto the chains, sending off a load of sparks and skittering off. The force was, however, enough to break the wrist chains. Tigress lunged for the executioner and, knocking him out, grabbed his axe and broke open her chains. In the next second, she broke Po's.

The both jumped to their feet, back to back in ready stance.

Tigress' plan had originally been to escape and then do the Eye of the Dragon sequence. The only problem was, if they focused on fighting each other, they'd be shish kebabed by, well, everyone else.

"What now?" Po asked out of the corner of his mouth.

She smiled grimly, her eyes alight with the hard fire of battle. "Improvise."

**A/N: Oh, wow! I am SO sorry, I just keep handing you short chapters! I'll try to do a longer one next time (I can't promise anything, though).**


	23. Chapter 23 Eye of the Dragon

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: To quote from Spongebob: 'I can't BELIEVE Mermaid Man hit me with his mermerang!...It's so awesome!" I could just see Po saying that to Tigress: 'I can't BELIEVE Master Tigress just kicked me into the wall!...She's so awesome!"

**Devil's Pass, Day 10 (Approx. 6:30 p.m.)**

"Improvise."

"Improvise? That's it? That's your plan?" said Po.

"Yes." Her voice was dead serious.

"You fools!" Sung sneered. "Don't you understand? You can't escape!"

Po was about to make some sort of Kung Fu-y comment, before he felt Tigress nudge him in the back. "Stall him," she muttered.

"Huh?"

"Buy time."

He couldn't see how getting a few more seconds could save their butts, but hey, every minute he was alive was a good moment as far as he was concerned. So he asked Sung the first thing he could think of: "Why don't you have your own action figure?"

Tigress, on the other hand, was thinking of every possibility to get them out of this. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming; the only hope she could think of was that Shifu would somehow show up with a volunteer army and save them. She glanced out of the corner of her eye towards the pass, hoping that somehow luck was once again on their side.

No such luck- and, as it would happen- no Shifu, no army, and no chance.

Po had long since stopped paying attention to Master Sung's rant about how the panda was not fit to be the Dragon Warrior and what did he mean by 'why didn't he have his own action figure?' "Any ideas?" he asked.

"Go down fighting," she said grimly.

As if bidden by her words, one soldier suddenly ran forward and attacked Tigress, a battle roar echoing throughout the pass. "GRAAAH!"

And then the army was upon them.

The world turned to a haze of red mist and battle screams, warm blood raining down on the Dragon Warrior and Lotus Tiger. They were excellent fighters, especially Tigress, but it wouldn't be long before they were overwhelmed.

"Kya!" Tigress shouted, breaking one warrior's neck before whirling around to kick another. "Heis!"

Her breath came in ragged pants, gasping for air. Her mind was completely focused, and no matter how many wounds she got, she somehow was able to push past the pain and continue to fight.

Suddenly, out of the thousands of noises around her, one sound broke through her concentration: a single, familiar shout of pain.

Tigress turned, desperately searching for Po. Where was he? Where was-  
>She cried out as someone hit her in the back with a sword, cutting a shallow slice down her skin. Within the next instant, she was knocked over onto her stomach. She twisted, kicking, slashing, biting anything she could sink her fangs into. There were too many, too many, too-<p>

Suddenly, all around her, everything froze.

It was as if someone had simply hit some sort of 'stop' button. With a glance around, she realized that no one was holding her, the starry black sky above her untainted by blood. Slowly, she struggled to her feet and looked around for the cause of the cease, though in her heart she already knew.

Somewhere behind her, Sung roared. "SHIFU!"

And Shifu it was, leading an army of civilians and- wonder of wonders- tens of thousands of _pandas_.

"Surrender!" Shifu shouted back, though his voice was a lot less loud due to the distance. "Surrender, or we will be forced to stop you!"

"Do your worst, old man!" Sung shouted. He raised his fist, and his own army roared behind him.

"All forward!" Shifu shouted on the other end, pointing his staff forward like a commander's sword.

"ALL FORWARD!" Sung echoed, the war drummers responding at his command and pounding out the order.

Both armies roared their battle cries, and once again the world dissolved into a rushing madness as the two masses collided.

Tigress pulled Po to his feet and shouted, "Stay by me! We have to get to Shifu!"

"Gotcha!"

They started to make their way towards their Master, who Tigress had spotted not too far away. The going was slow, however, because every time they even managed to go a few feet, there was another opponent trying to kill them.

"Po! Behind you!" Tigress roared, slashing at the first of a couple of wolves that had ganged up on them.

The panda whirled around and sent another wolf flying. There was a loud crunch as the kicked another in the ribs that was about to decapitate Tigress. The feline herself finished off the last, and then ducked as an arrow shot near enough for her to hear the hiss of air over the shaft.

"Tigress, watch out!" He caught the javelin that someone threw at her, looking at it with the happy surprise he usually got when he did something really cool.

"Throw it!" Tigress shouted, whirling back around to block another attack.

"Oh, yeah!" He threw the javelin back at the attacker.

"Nice miss," she said sarcastically. "How is it that you can throw a cannon ball, but not a simple javelin?"

"It's just that- look out, Tigress!" And they were back to the battle.

As the Dragon Warrior turned around to meet his next opponent, he found himself quickly flipped onto his back. A long, wooden something was pointing straight at his face.

Po blinked. "Master Shifu?"

Shifu blinked back. "Po?" He shook the surprise off and hauled the panda to his feet. "You're alive!"

"Barely," another voice said. The red panda looked beyond Po to see his adopted daughter standing just behind him. "Tigress! Thank the gods-!"

"Master," Tigress said, cutting him off. "I have an idea."

"You have-" he paused to take down a rhino that was attempting to sneak up on him from behind. "You have an idea?"

"The Eye of the Dragon sequence," she said, while simultaneously flipping a wolf over her shoulder. "We can do it. Full power."

"Whatever 'full power' means," Po added.

Shifu took a moment to stare at them. "Full power? You're positive, Tigress?"

"Yes, Ma-hrah! (She threw an opponent into the air, and then kicked him out of the way)- Yes, Master."

"The power that you would have is phenomenal," he said, before turning to stab a wolf through the chest with his staff. "It's said that you would be able to freeze entire armies, find life in the driest desert, even read the emotions of any man."

"Whoa! That's cool," Po said.

"Very. But- Tigress duck!" The tiger master dropped to a knee, and her would-be attacker flipped tripped over her, landing on his back. Shifu picked him up and threw him into the next attacker. "But you will have to do the entire thing through without stopping. If you break the sequence, it won't work."

"That might be a problem!" Tigress growled, clawing at a rhino.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Po, knocking out the offending rhino with a punch to the temples.

"So long as one of you is doing it at any given time, you should be able to do it," Shifu said. "But _be careful_."  
>"You got it, master Shifu! We'll be really careful!"<p>

THWACK!

Tigress smacked the heads of the two wolves that were about to jump Po together. "Starting now might be a good idea," she said dryly.

"Go," Shifu ordered. "You have my blessing."

"Yes, Master," both students said, bowing. They turned and ran away.

"Where are we going?" Po asked as they ran.

"Highest point," Tigress answered. "To the cliff." She pointed to a place on the pass walls near where they had stayed. A number of soldiers were fighting there already.

"Gotcha. Uh… so how do we get up there?"

"I'm working on it." She glanced around in the momentary lull in the fighting, and then pointed. "There's a switchback over there. No one's on it; let's go."

They ran to the switchback, Tigress taking out the opponents from the front while Po did the same from behind. When they reached the switchback, it was (miracle of miracles) still free of fighters. Tigress dropped onto all fours and ran full out for the top, leaving Po behind panting. "Okay. Yeah. You do that. I'll catch up."

She stopped about halfway up and looked back. With an annoyed sigh, she ran back down and said "Get on."

He stared at her. "What?"

"We'll never get up there in time if you don't."

He hesitated a moment, and then walked over hesitantly sat down on her back, almost like she was a small horse. "You sure you can hold me?" he said doubtfully.

She shot him a feral grin. "Don't you remember who you're talking to?"

And then she shot off on the path.

Po struggled to hang on without pulling at her fur, ears, or anything else that might cause her to hurt him later. Within moments, they'd reached the top of the cliff. Tigress stood up, and Po fell off with a loud WHAM!

At the noise, the battling soldiers all looked over. It was two pandas versus six wolves, and while the pandas were holding their ground, it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Tigress and Po quickly got rid of the six wolves by knocking them off the cliff. Tigress then turned to the nearest panda, who was looking fairly stunned. "We need you to cover for us," she said. "Keep the enemy away from us."

The panda bowed. "Of course, Master Tigress."

"We're going to be doing some pretty wacked up stuff," Po warned. "If things start getting dangerous, you've gotta run."

"Yes, Dragon Warrior," the other panda said, bowing as well.

Both Po and Tigress settled into their fighting stances, facing each other. "Ready?" Po said.

Tigress sucked in a breath. Was she ready? After all, she was binding her soul to his; that was no small thing.

She wasn't sure that it would work. But what she _was_ sure of was that if they didn't, China would fall into the hands of a psychotic tiger.

"I'm ready," she said, and she meant it.

They fell into the first stance, executing the beginning blow/block perfectly. Almost immediately, Tigress could feel something pulling at her spirit, and for an instant, she was in the Golden Valley.

She gritted her teeth and pushed at it, trying to exist in two worlds at once. Suddenly, she heard Po's voice say, "Stop trying so hard. Just let it happen."

She closed her eyes and relaxed her mind. When she opened them again, she was still in the physical realm, but she could feel the Golden Valley just on the edge of her mind.

The second step came, an overhead strike and a block. It was a simple move, something any apprentice knew how to do by his or her first month- but still, somehow vitally important to this sequence.

There was a power rising in them, growing in their minds. They could feel it.

Suddenly, with a sound like something splintering, part of the power broke through the barriers of the physical body, and their minds were connected. Po could feel Tigress kick, and she could feel him block.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound came from the switchbacks, nearly shattering their concentration. Tigress glanced back and saw a group of Sung's soldiers running up the path, the two pandas barely holding them off. _Po, we've got company,_ she thought grimly, the words slightly echoing in her mind.

_Whoa! How'd you do that?_

She ignored this and said, _I'll take care of them. You keep doing the sequence. Don't stop, no matter what!_

She turned away and broke her part of the sequence. Almost immediately, she could feel the strain on Po increase dramatically.

She faced the soldiers. "You dare challenge the Lotus Tiger and the Dragon Warrior?" she said, her voice deadly serious.

"Hey, kitty! Wha'cha you love birds doing up there, huh? Your boyfriend is looking a little crazy!" one of the warriors hooted back.

"You're really not the brightest candle in the shop, are you?" Tigress replied. In an instant, she was in front of him, and within the next, she had knocked him over the side of the cliff. She turned to his stunned comrades. "Anyone else want to mess with the kitty?"

The wolves, rhinos, and boars all looked at each other for a moment, and then readied for attack.

"Fine," Tigress said to herself. "Looks like the 'kitty' is going to have to use her claws."

Po struggled to do the sequence, feeling as if he was wearing cement boots. "Tigress?"

"In a minute!" she roared, trying to throw a rhino off her back and over the cliff. "I'm a little busy!"

He decided to shut up and focused on moving his feet enough for two people (because he had to provide the energy for Tigress' half, too).

Suddenly, Tigress literally soared over his head, landed in front of him, and fell into the sequence with him, executing the blocks, strikes, and holds that came naturally to her, the Yin.

The world began to spin around her, faster and faster. The world in front of her flickered between the physical realm and the Golden Valley, dancing back and forth until she saw both at once. Her spirit seemed to be soaring, and she laughed from sheer happiness, something she hadn't done in a long while. Green gaze met red, black met white, and she could see him in front of her, the only solid thing that ground her to the earth. They were one, a shared spirit, the Yin and Yang in an eternal dance. A brilliant golden light was surrounding her. Everything was balance, everything was harmony-

And then the world exploded.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Mis disculpas, amigos (y amigas).**


	24. Chapter 24 Battle's End

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Mis amigas, the world didn't really _explode_, per say. You'll see what I mean. **Also, I'm really sorry that this chapter is so extremely short. (This's highlighted so that more people will read it. )**

buttercup303- To answer your question on how Shifu got back to the pass so fast, my only answer is that sheer desperation can make a man do amazing things.

HiddenBlade- Huh? Po's skills didn't go back to zero. He was sparring the Five and battling a bunch of bad guys during the whole story. I'm really confused…

**Devil's Pass, Cliff, Day 10 (Approx. 7:00 p.m.)**

And then the world exploded.

The pandas that had been defending Tigress and Po were nearly blinded by the flash of light that radiated out from the two. Remembering Po's warning, they ran back down the switchbacks. When they got to the base of the path, they cowered behind one of the rocks (which didn't work that well, considering their size).

The two figures were literally glowing, shining brightly with a golden light. The flash that had nearly knocked the pandas off their feet blasted out from them in, with a huge BOOM!, like an explosion.

The golden shockwave rippled out from Po and Tigress. Every one of Sung's men that were touched immediately froze, while it passed by Shifu's army untouched.

Up on the cliff, both Tigress and Po fell to their knees as the power was released. Tigress waited for the effects to fade- aka, mind reading and such- but they didn't.

_Great. I'm going to have him in my head for the rest of my life? _She groused.

_Hey! I can hear you, you know._

_One more reason why I don't want you listening to my thoughts,_ she said.

They both struggled to their feet, then looked out over the pass- and, of course, to the frozen army. A golden-orange glow surrounded each motionless man.

_Whoa. That's really awesome,_ said Po. Then, suddenly, _I'm hungry._

_Focus, Po,_ replied Tigress. It made much more sense to talk completely through mind-speak; audible words were so tedious.

_Right. Focus. I'm all about the- Hey, you think Shifu's all right?_

Her entire mood changed. Now, instead of being serious, she was worried. _I don't know._

_So…what do we do?_

She took a few steps forward, to the edge of the cliff, and said grimly, _We end this._

With a deep breath, she shouted, "Sung!" At her voice, every eye was drawn to the top, even those of the frozen warriors. "Your army is incapacitated! You have no chance!" With a moment's concentration, she released her hold on the older tiger.

In the pass below, the aforementioned feline turned towards her and roared back, "I WILL NOT-!"  
>With a single leap, Tigress bounded off the cliff, landing on all fours on the ground below. Within a few seconds, she stood in front of him. Scarlet glare met yellow. "I told you to surrender," she growled.<p>

"I and I told you that I would not," the tiger hissed back.

With a snarl, Tigress turned and did the unexpected: she released her hold on the entire army, watching as they started to move again, most of them stunned. As she did so, she noticed that their number had dropped hugely; there were now less than ten thousand left, whereas the number of warriors on Shifu's side was much greater.

Tigress looked around, making eye contact with as many animals as possible. "Why do you fight for him?" she shouted, making sure everyone could hear her. "Is it the money? The glory?" When there was a small murmur of assent- small being like the sound of a busy marketplace on a summer day- she responded, "Don't you have families and homes? Don't you have lives?" Again, there was the rumbling mutter, like a small earthquake. "I don't know why you joined this army," she continued, "but whatever reason, it isn't going to help you. Look around you." At her words, they did so. The carnage in front of them was shocking, horrifying. "Many of your comrades have already died, and this is only the first battle you would have faced. And for what cause? To destroy lives and homes? Sung would as soon kill you and your families as those in the villages he wants to conquer." She pointed back at the tiger. "He was going to lead you onto a march to destroy your own country, regardless of who might get in the way. Did he promise that your families would be safe? That they would be spared?" she laughed humorlessly. "Do you honestly think he cares? That he can protect all of them? He lied to you. _All_ of you. Is that who you want in a leader?"

The ringing silence as her words faded was answer enough. Then, suddenly, there was a loud clattering, as one of the soldiers near her threw down his weapon. After a moment's hesitation, a number of the others around him followed. The chain continued, growing larger and faster, until the entire army had thrown their weapons to the ground. It was a beautiful sight, to say the least.

Tigress turned to Sung, who was seething with rage. "Surrender," she said flatly. "You have no army, no power, and no chance."

Sung glanced away, and then bowed his head in submission. "I can see that I have no choice…"

"Yep," Po said, surprising Tigress (he'd appeared while she'd been giving her speech, and she hadn't noticed).

"…but to destroy you," Sung said, and, without any warning, suddenly leapt at Tigress.

The two masters hit the ground, clawing and snapping. Sung ended up below somehow, and delivered a very powerful kick straight into Tigress' abdomen, sending her flying backwards. He was about to stand and go after her when something very, _very _heavy landed on him, nearly breaking his legs. The something- or, as it would happen, someone- grabbed him by the neck and pulled back his fist to punch.

Shifu appeared next to Po (for of course it was he), dashing through the lines. He pointed his staff down at the tiger, barely an inch from his eye.

"No-!" Tigress half-growled, half-gasped, as she struggled to her feet.

"You are so dead, Mr. Tiger!" Po yelled.

Sung laughed, still somehow cocky, even though he was inches from death by either a.) Panda punch, or b.) Sacred staff shish kabob. "She's my daughter. I'll do to her as I please."

"She is _not_ your daughter," Shifu barked.

"Oh? You think she's yours?" Master Sung retorted.

It was the wrong thing to say. Shifu's face contorted, and he shouted, "Yes, she is! She is my only daughter and you will pay for what you have done to her!" He drew back is staff to strike.

"No," Tigress said from behind him, catching it. Shifu looked up, surprised. "No, father," she said again. "Let me handle this myself."

"But Tigress-" Po started, but she cut him off.

"He's my problem, Po. Let me deal with him."

Slowly, both Po and Shifu drew away. Tigress stepped forward and watched as Sung stood up, still sneering.

"Would you kill your father?" he mocked. "Will the victorious daughter murder her own blood?"

"I am not your daughter," she hissed, "and I never will be."

"You are-"

"I'm not," she interrupted. "You left me for dead."

"I did no such thing."

"You did," she growled. "You left me at the Bao Gu orphanage. You knew no family would ever want someone like me. No family meant no dowry, and no dowry meant no marriage. And for a girl, no marriage means you end up on the streets. That's as good as dead."

Sung growled. "You are still of my blood, Tigress. I am your father. You cannot deny that."

"You are my sire," she corrected. "You are no father to me."

"You say that he is your father?" Sung said, pointing to Shifu. "That he is your family? What did he ever do for you?"

"He trained me. He brought me up. He gave me a home, something you never bothered to do." Tigress glanced over at Shifu. "He is my master and my father, and I couldn't have asked for a better one of either."

"How touching," Master Sung said sarcastically. "So I suppose now you're going to kill me?"

"No," Tigress said, her mind already made up. Her mind flashed back to the day when she had knocked the bunny out of the window. _A life for a life._

The older tiger sneered. "So it'll be a clichéd hero approach then? I should have known you wouldn't be strong enough to purposefully take a life. You're weak."

"Then I suppose our ideas of weakness are very different," Tigress said coldly. "You have once chance, Master Sung. Leave China and never return. Or I promise you: _I will hunt you down._ And that time, there will be no mercy."

Sung started to laugh. It was a strange, insane kind of laughter that made a chill run down the spine of all within earshot. "You think I'm afraid of you?" he said, still laughing. "You think I'm a coward, Tigress?"

The rest of the five and Po exchanged glances. Something was seriously wrong here.

"I think you're a fool," Tigress said hostilely. "And fools have no true courage."

"You think me weak? I'll show you! I'll show you all just how strong I am!" And before anyone could object, he whirled around, grabbed one of his soldier's swords off the ground, and held it up.

For a moment, the blade hung in the air, shining in the bright moonlight as if it were burning with a white, brilliant fire. Then, suddenly, it plunged down towards the holder, piercing flesh and breaking bone, running straight through the heart.

For a moment, Master Sung continued to laugh, even as the blood leaked from the wound. "See how strong I am?" he shouted. "Do you see my courage? I am Master Sung! I AM THE STRONGEST MAN ALIVE!"

And then, as if a candle had been blown out, the laughter stopped. Master Sung fell to the ground, and all around there was silence, silence and the starry sky.

**A/N: Yeah, as I mentioned before, short chapter. Sorry, folks, but that's the way it rolls.**


	25. Chapter 25 Epilogue

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

**Devil's Pass, Day 10 (Approx. 7:30 p.m.)**

Everybody stared. And stared. And…stared.

And then a loud cheer from somewhere in Shifu's army broke the silence. The whoop of triumph was joined by others of its kind, until soon both armies were cheering, rejoicing the death of the man that had threatened them for so long.

Po joined in, shouting and pumping his fist into the air. Tigress watched, not exactly stunned, but just sort of…watching.

Suddenly, a paw grabbed hers, and her arm was lifted high into the air. She glanced over at Po, already thinking her question. _Why?_

_It's your victory. Celebrate it._

And she did. She cheered with the rest of them, her voice adding into the joyful chorus that was more beautiful and more powerful than that of a million sounding horns. In her heart, she could feel the serenity of her Inner Peace.

People were crying, hugging, enemies turned into friends. Suddenly, Po let go of her hand, turning away.

_Po? What is it? _She asked, glancing at him.

He didn't answer. Instead, he shouted, "Dad!"

The old goose was talking to a panda, something of a peculiar expression on his face. At Po's cry, both men turned and said in unison, "Po!"

The Dragon Warrior ran forward towards them. Bending down, he pulled the old noodle maker into a hug. The panda looked down and took a few steps back.

"Dad, you're okay!"

"Well of course I am, Po, but you're crushing me my boy."

"Oh. Oh, sorry!" He let go of him quickly.

Mr. Ping brushed himself off. "Po, there is someone I'd like you to meet." He gestured with his arm towards the panda.

Po stood up. "Uh- hey. Eh- thanks for fighting and everything, we really couldn't have done it without you."

The panda just stared at him, as if drinking in the sight of him.

"Oh- OH." Po took a step back. He seemed to have no idea what to say. After a few moments, he managed a small, "Are you…?"

"It's been too long," Master Jeng said. "My son."

"Yeah. I mean, you know, twenty years…" Po shifted his feet nervously.

Suddenly, he heard a noise beside him. He looked over at Tigress, who bowed to Master Jeng. "It is truly an honor to meet you," she said, straightening up. "You are Po's birth father?"

"Er- well, yes." He glanced away for a moment, then, turning back to Po, said, "I have a proposal for you."

"Uh…sure. What is it?"

"There is a hidden village," Jeng began, "In the mountains, far to the North. You can come back there with me, if you would like."

Po's mouth dropped open. He glanced over at Tigress, who looked stunned, then down at his dad. Mr. Ping was looking away, shuffling his feathers. "Po," he said softly, finally looking up. "It's your choice. I- I am very happy for you."

Po glanced between the older goose and his birth father. He hesitated a moment, then said, "I'm really sorry, but…I wanna stay with my dad and my friends."

Mr. Ping looked up, surprised. He had obviously not expected Po to choose him over this Kung Fu master. Then, his eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you, Po," he said softly.

Po smiled a little. "Thanks for the offer, though."

Master Jeng bowed. "Of course. I understand completely." He smiled at Mr. Ping. "I hope you won't mind if I drop in from time to time?"

"Oh no, of course not! And make sure to bring some of your friends. I can make noodles for them! Well, perhaps not _all_ of them," he said, glancing around.

"Po," Tigress said, beckoning with her hands. "Master Shifu wants to talk to us. He sent me over here to retrieve you."

"Oh- oh yeah! Later, dad and…dad." Po grinned, waved and walked after Tigress.

When they came to Master Shifu and the other four, they both quickly bowed. "Master," the said in unison.

Shifu chuckled. "You have all done well. _Exceptionally _well. Go down to the village and find somewhere to stay. You'd best hurry, or all the inns will be filled."

"Yes, Master," they all said, bowing quickly. Without further ado, they began to push their way through the huge crowd.

"I'll go get us a few rooms," Crane said. "Viper?"

"I'll come with," the snake said, going a little red and smiling. Crane scooped her up with his talons and took to the skies.

As the others walked through (they reached the roads down to the village much quicker than the other soldiers, due to their training and such), Po turned to Tigress, using their strange new thought-speak to talk. _What now?_

She glanced over at him. _What do you mean?_

_The battle's done, China's safe, everyone's pretty okay…I say we celebrate._

She considered this for a moment. _I suppose that would be good…we should ask the others where they want to go._

At this, Po went slightly red. _Well…I was kind of thinking…_

_ Spit it out, panda._

_ That it could be, you know…just the two of us?_ He went even redder and glanced down at his hands.

She smiled slightly. _I'd like that._

He looked up, surprised. _Okay. Uh…where do you want to go?_

She thought for a moment. _There's a nice restaurant in the village. I know the way there._

_ A restaurant?_ He said, even his thoughts sounding excited.

_With an all-you-can-eat eggroll line,_ she confirmed.

He grinned. _Sounds good to me._

_ Hm. I thought it might._

Suddenly, his paw found hers. She looked over at him. He was about as red as a tomato, and he was grinning like an idiot.

She smiled, and thought quietly, _Thank you, Po._

_ You're welcome. Now come on, or the eggrolls will all be gone._

She laughed and, with a quick, "See you later!" to Mantis and Monkey, ran ahead with the panda.

_Say it,_ Po thought suddenly.

_Say what?_ She asked, though she had a pretty good idea.

_You know what._

_ Not happening, Po._

_Aw, come on, Tigress, have a little fun!_

_ No. Not on your life._

_ Please? _ When she still didn't look like she was going to relent, he thought, _Come on, you know you want to._

She growled, but it was more playful than angry. _All right, fine._ She grinned, and then, with a little chuckle, finally gave in. "Skadoosh."

The End


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